Ties That Bind
by GuardianSoulBlade
Summary: Medieval Fic. Sir Garfield Logan had conquered the entire country, overthrowing King Malchior of Steel Kingdom. He returns to Jump Estate with the spoils of war, including Malchior's widow, a sorceress named Raven. BB/Rae, BB/T
1. Prologue

**Ties that Bind**

Summary: Medieval Fic. Sir Garfield Logan had conquered the entire country, overthrowing King Malchior of Steel Kingdom. He returns to Jump Estate with the spoils of war, including Malchior's widow, a sorceress named Raven. BB/Rae, BB/T (in flashback, I do NOT do Terra bashing, 'cause I like both pairings). Been playing Stronghold 2 way too much lately. Had to make a medieval fic.

**Disclainer: **All characters, places, settings anything that is important belongs to DC Comics. I don't own anything pertaining to Teen Titans, except the DVDs. If I had it my way this would be a movie, or graphic novel, or something awesome like that, and the show itself would still be airing new episodes on TV.

**Prologue  
**

_He still remembered her. Her smile. Her laughter. The way she always understood him. They'd been married for five years. They were going to have a family. He was the Lord of the small estate known as Jump. His best friends were Sir Richard and Sir Victor. Although Garfield was a peasant and a fletcher, and Richard was the adopted Ward of Lord Wayne, they had become friends with Sir Victor, a traveling mercenary from a distant country. They had distinguished themselves after being drafted into the royal army after too many knights had died and there were no squires old enough to go to battle.. During the many wars King Malchior waged, he'd met a girl named Terra. They'd fallen in love, and had married a few years later._

_They had a good life together. _

_Then, tragedy struck._

_He had been invited as an honored guest to the castle. They both had gone. King Malchior, who was well known as a philanderer, had set his sights on Terra. She had refused him. He had her shot dead as they were leaving. She had died in his arms._

"_I love you, Garfield. Always," were Terra's last words to him._

"_I'm going to make him pay," Garfield swore an oath. He only confided his vow to Richard and Victor. Richard's wife Kori had grieved bitterly. Terra was her closest friend. _

_It was from then on that they decided. They were going to overthrow Mlachior. He didn't deserve to be King. Someone else would take his place. They told their small army to get ready, but to keep it a secret. The king's spies were everywhere. So they meticulously planned and prepared, stored up food, pitch and weapons. They made sure to keep the estate well defended before they prepared to siege the castle itself._

_Meanwhile, Malchior ruled with an iron fist, a cruel tyrant who took everything from his people without trying to make their lives better. Raven knew that there was a rebellion brewing. She had often argued with her husband, warning him that if he didn't change, disaster would strike. She sensed the onslaught coming, but he didn't believe her._

_Raven awoke from a fitful sleep. It was early and she always got up early to meditate. It helped ease her mind, only a little. With her husband's cruel policies and hard handed tactics, it was only a matter of time before rebellion would sweep the country, She'd heard stories, of a massive army, well trained and well equipped, heading towards the castle. They had conquered nearly all the estates and nothing and no one could stop them. _

_But she had to try to stop them. She was a powerful sorceress and she knew that if she didn't at least try to stop them, more lives would be lost. Mlachior was gathering his troops to head off to battle, but he told her that if he died, she would have to protect the castle. So Raven watched, and waited, she prepared herself for the oncoming battle and she knew deep down that there wasn't any hope left for her._

_

* * *

_

_Sir Garfield Logan stood atop a hill, staring out at King Malchior's slowly approaching army. It had taken them almost a year to conquer nearly all of Mlachior's estates. The peasants were eagerly aiding them. They were sick and tired of Mlachior's tyranny and eagerly accepted Garfield Logan's encouraging words and the promise he made to give them a better life. He told them that if they aided him they would create a kingdom where they would eat well and live good lives. He promised to lower the taxes and punish criminals. There future would be bright and full of hope._

"_I'm creating a kingdom she would have wanted to live in," he told Richard. _

"_That's a good thing Gar, but how are you going to make sure you keep that promise and don't turn into another Malchior?" Richard asked._

"_Well, I have you two, you guys would not hesitate to cut me down if I turn into the monster he is."_

"_Indeed," Richard said. "You're thinking about Terra, aren't you?"_

"_Yes, I'm doing this all for her. She stood up to him, and he killed her."_

"_Gar, don't get too caught up in all this, you might not like where this goes," Victor warned._

"_Don't worry about me, Vic, I'm not about to follow in _his_ footsteps. I'll never be like Malchior."_

"_Do you honestly think we can win?" Richard asked._

"_So says the guy who set the traps," Gar smirked. "If there's anyone smarter than Malchior when it comes to battlefield strategy, it's you."_

"_I was making a jest," Richard responded._

"_And you find _my _jests unfunny," Garfield retorted._

"_You try too hard, Gar," Richard said. "Would you look at that? The army stopped. They set up camp too."_

"_I'm going to give him one last chance, if he agrees to change his ways, then I will halt the attack. If he doesn't then, we'll slaughter his army."_

"_That sounds like something Mlachior would say in negotiations," Victor said.,_

"_Actually, no, Malchior would just arrive and slaughter us without any negotiations," Richard said. "That's the way he strategizes. Send the messenger. We'll decide what to do when he gets back."_

_Meanwhile, Mlachior's soldiers spotted the messenger and brought him to the king._

"_What is your proposition?" he asked. "Have you come to surrender? If you do, I promise you a quick painless death."_

"_Lord Garfield asks that you surrender, and he will cease his attack," the messenger replied. _

_Malchior sneered at the messenger Garfield had sent, "He wants me to surrender, as if he will ever set foot in my castle. No, I'm going to end this. Who does he think he is? That insignificant peasant, he only received his title from me because I was feeling generous. He's no one without me, I gave him everything he has, and I can take it away. Ha! Tell "Lord" Garfield that the next time I see him it will be with his head, on a pike and his body cut up in pieces!"_

_The messenger rode back to camp and delivered the message. _

_When Garfield heard the message, he was furious. "I offered him one last chance. Well _he's _going to have his head on a pike, not me. I'm going to cut him down myself!"_

"_Richard, tell Victor to get the men ready. All the traps are set and we've got more than enough weapons and food. Tomorrow when they wake up, rain down Hell from the sky! Half his army will be dead before he even engages me in combat! I'm going to kill him with my own hands."_

"_Well, let's go!" Richard said, standing up. "So begins the bloody business of the day."_

_All the preparations were made, the troops were ready, and he was prepared to take his revenge. He would change this country. He was going to do it for Terra. Mlachior was going to pay for all the cruel things he had done to his own people, but most of all, he was going to pay for murdering Terra. Gar stared out at the army, preparing to come to kill him._

"_Let them come!" he snarled. No one was going to stop him this time._


	2. Chapter 1: Yeseterday I Died

**Chapter One: Yesterday I Died**

_**Disclaimer:**__ I don't own Teen Titans. I don't own any characters, just my imagination. Oh by the way the word cuirass is pronounced kwi-rass, it's medieval body armor. Research pays off for these kinds of fics, which I don't think anyone ever actually does, yay me. I'm actually referencing one of my favorite songs, if you can give me the name of the band; I'll read whatever your most updated fic is. _

It was warm and the sun was bright in the sky. Strange that it was a beautiful day for a war. Malchior's army was marching steadily towards them. Garfield had made sure to have eaten and gotten plenty of rest, along with his men. Tired soldiers meant dead soldiers, no doubt Malchior had been stupid and not let his men eat or get enough rest. It was their funerals, a pity really.

"Don't fire until you see the whites of their eyes!" Victor shouted. He was a dark skinned man, a Moor and a mercenary from a far away country. He'd traveled to Steel Kingdom to seek his fortunes. Garfield had befriended him and they had set out together and then they had met Richard, the ward of Lord Wayne who had freed Kori from enslavement by the Gordanians after they had invaded her kingdom of Tamaran. They had many adventures together and Richard and Kori had fallen in love and gotten married. Then they met Terra and Garfield had fallen in love and they had lived without incident until she died.

"Yes, sir!" the soldiers responded.

Richard stood, overlooking the battlefield, "They're about where we want them."

"They're going to start dying…right…about…Now!"

Indeed, he could hear them screaming. They were falling into the man traps that Richard had set up. Blood was everywhere. He heard and saw men falling into pitch pits or being hit by fire ballistae. His men hadn't even engaged them yet and they were already dying.

"Open fire!" Victor shouted.

Arrows flew from crossbows filling the air. There were more screams. His men were well trained, much better than Malchior, and they had the resolve to fight, that was another thing Malchior's men lacked. Garfield's green cape flapped in the wind. He was on his horse, he turned to his men. His green eyes were set with determination. The wind whipped over the hill, blowing bits of his blond hair out from underneath his helmet. It wasn't exactly a comfortable setting.

"And the wind just _has _to make him look dramatic," Victor snarked.

"Attack!" the men did as they were told and they all rode down together. Victor and Richard were with him. Swords whirled and flashed about as they relentlessly cut down their foes.

The enemy was beginning to run.

"Don't let them escape!" Richard shouted. More bodies fell dead as the archers and crossbowmen took out fleeing soldiers.

Garfield finally spotted him. Malchior, it was a day he'd been looking forward to.

"Malchior! You're going to pay for what you did to Terra!" Garfield shouted.

"We will see about that. I'm going to enjoy killing you. Necronom Hezberek Mortix!" Malchior shouted. A stream of white energy shot out at Gar and knocked him off his horse. He scrambled to his feet.

"What was that?" he demanded.

"Magic and it's what's going to destroy you for good." Malchior's smirk was apparent enough. Garfield had never met a wizard, sorcerer or a sorceress before but he knew that the stories said they were always overconfident in their powers and tended to rely on them a lot. He was determined to use that to his advantage.

"Fancy tricks won't save you Malchior," he taunted. "All those stories I heard about sorcerers, you aren't very impressive."

He glowered at Gar, Gar smirked, man he was easy to rile up. "So I'm curious, what are you going to do after you've killed me?"

"I'm going home to my wife," Malchior smirked.

"Wait…you have a wife? How did a piece of scum like you even _get_ a wife?"

Malchior snarled in fury and unsheathed his sword. He began slashing at Garfield wildly, he wasn't normally so reckless but every word this peasant said just infuriated him.

"Man, this wife of yours must be ugly," Gar continued. Malchior actually turned red with rage.

Garfield tried to keep himself from actually laughing out loud. "Honestly, you bed so many wenches who _aren't _this wife of yours she must not be that pretty. If you can't be happy with the person you call your wife, you _must_ be pathetic."

Garfield struck Malchior across the face and the evil tyrant fell to ground. Victor grabbed the sword and held it to his throat.

"Go on. Do it. You're not fit to rule this country if you can't finish what you started."

Garfield stared at him.

"Maybe I will," Garfield told him.

Malchior actually paled at the thought of actually dying and quickly changed his tune.

"Spare my life, I—I'm begging you. I'll do whatever you ask," he blubbered.

"If you had said that to me a year ago, I would have gladly finished you off, but I'm going to be merciful. Take your wife and leave this kingdom and you won't be killed. Get out of my sight!" Gar turned to leave.

"You fool!" Malchior snarled. "Did you think your kindness would be an advantage, he slipped a small dagger from inside his boot and slashed at this pathetic excuse for a knight. Garfield managed to avoid most of the blow, but felt it cut into his chest, his armor wasn't like Malchior's and it was easier to cut through. He didn't have time to think. He had to end it, saw where Gar had ripped a piece of the cuirass during their sword fight.

Garfield managed to bring his arm around Malchior's head, right above where there was space enough for his helmet and his armor to meet. Malchior had foolishly discarded his helmet at the beginning of their fight.

"You thought I didn't see that coming," Gar asked. Malchior suddenly exhaled as the air was pushed out of him as he felt a knife enter right below his neck and into his back. "All war is deception."

"I underestimated you, you were supposed to be a complete idiot," Malchior gasped, he was going to die here, because of this pathetic fool. "My wife…will…avenge me. She's the only one…who understands…"

"The King is dead…" Victor began.

"Long live the King!" Richard finished. He could hardly believe their quest was almost over.

"Gar, your chest has been ripped open, we'll have Kori heal you," Richard said. Kori was a healer as well as a warrior. She was skilled in helping the wounded and the sick and she was going to have a lot of work to do.

"You're right, I'll recover, but we're not finished yet. My destiny is at hand. Time to take the capital," Gar said, picking up his helmet.

* * *

Raven stared at the messenger. "Malchior…is dead?"

"Yes, my Lady, he told me that you would avenge him and defend this castle."

"When will he arrive?" she asked.

"Tomorrow," he replied.

As much of a shock as it was to find out Malchior was dead, she didn't have time to grieve, that monster Garfield was coming and she had to prepare. She'd spend the rest of her time preparing for the attack and Garfield was surprised to find that the castle was a lot harder to take than he'd planed, but he, Victor and Richard all managed to get in with a small squad of their best troops.

"This castle is ours!" Garfield said triumphantly.

"You care to wager that on your life?" a voice asked. He turned, looked up to a stairway, and saw her for the first time.

She was about his age, her early twenties. People didn't live long in these times. You were lucky to make it to thirty. The fact that she was in good health impressed him. But he couldn't see her face, she was wearing a hood.

"Who are you?" he asked.

"My name is Raven, that is all you need to know," she replied.

"He mentioned he had a wife, I guess that he meant you. I didn't think he actually had a heart in his chest," Garfield told her simply. He wondered who in their right mind would _marry_ Malchior. It didn't really matter, he had to go through her to conquer to castle and that was simple enough.

"If you surrender now, I won't have to hurt you," she said calmly. At least she didn't have her husband's temper and go mad at the drop of a hat. Maybe he could negotiate with her.

"I was about to say that, I don't want any more unnecessary deaths, please, surrender," he was very calm about this. He was very tired, and didn't want to fight her due to his own exhaustion. Besides, he was never comfortable fighting females; they could be more terrifying than any man in battle.

"I'm going to make you pay for killing Malchior, the only way for you to take this castle is to kill me yourself you monster!" she snarled. She unsheathed a sword and prepared to attack.

It was strange, what a point of view could to a person. From his viewpoint, Malchior was the monster who had taken the woman he loved. From Raven's viewpoint, he was the monster who had taken away the only person who understood her and the powers she possessed. No one cared about her, or wanted to understand her powers, they all shunned her. Except Malchior. And now he was gone.

Garfield noted that except for one angry outburst from her, she was practically emotionless, and eerily calm. He was curious why, but didn't have time to think about it as their swords clashed.

"You know, Raven, if you actually took off that hood you'd be able to see me better," he quipped. His strange sense of humor mainly showed up in battle.

"Nothing you say will affect me," she replied in monotone. So battle humor and talk as distraction was definitely not going to work on this girl. Well, it was still worth a try.

"You know about your husband's reputation right? He was a cruel tyrant who got what he deserved."

"I'm not ignorant, Garfield, I know what he's done, but I still loved him."

"Are you an idiot?" he asked. "How could you love someone like him?"

"You will never understand," she replied.

_Raven looked at the longhaired young man, "You saved my life; I am in your debt."_

"_You are like me; we both have gifts the rest of the world will never understand."_

"_That's true, so what are you going to do now?" Raven asked. "I hope you don't mind if I travel with you."_

"_Me? I'm going to become king of this country. Then I'm going to make it a place where we can live without people ridiculing us for our gifts."_

"_That's very ambitious of you."_

"_I know, but just you wait, Raven," Malchior said, "We won't have to be afraid anymore."_

Their swords met and sparked again as she fought him to a standstill. They couldn't best each other and they were trying with all of their effort to find a weak spot. But they couldn't find one, attacks and defenses were flawless. Raven swung her sword and it left a hole in the wall where Garfield's head had been. He managed to duck, but barely, he could hear the wind whistle above his head.

Unexpectedly, something hit him like a wave and he staggered back. He saw tapestry falling from the ceiling towards him. He slashed it in half with his sword and barely managed to counter Raven's attack and suddenly, a black wave that he wasn't even sure he saw came straight towards him. He raised his sword and brought it down and cut the strange energy in half.

"I feel I should tell you something Raven," Garfield told her.

"You're starting to wear out, ready to give up?" she asked.

"No, I just wanted to tell you, that I am not right handed," he said, he switched hands. She stared. He'd been toying with her the entire time! He had deliberately used his weaker hand to test her skills. It didn't matter, she had to end this, she kept up an endless barrage and Gar was starting to worry.

_That was too close; I have to get her to lose her composure. This is a pretty low blow but it might work._

"You know Raven, when Malchior died, he begged and pleaded for his life like the coward he was, and when I granted him mercy he tried to stab me in the back, so I killed him."

At these words, Gar noticed that her composure completely changed; her eyes, which he couldn't see beneath her hood, began glowing white.

"You liar!" she screamed. "I'll kill you myself!"

Garfield had never been on the receiving end of so many vicious blows. He was backing up, parrying every attack but his arms were growing tired and were beginning to ache. If he didn't end this soon she would kill him. He pushed forward suddenly, calling on reserves of energy he didn't know he had. Her anger was astonishing, especially since she had seemed in control of her emotions during the first half of the fight.

He finally managed to knock the blade from her hands and it went skittering across the floor. Richard stepped on it before she could move over there, Victor was in the room as well and brandished his unsheathed sword in her direction.

"It's over Raven, surrender, and we'll let you live," Richard said calmly.

"I'd rather die!" she snapped. She raised her hands, and Gar's eyes widened in horror. "Azarath, Metrion, Zinthos!"

A strange form of dark energy streamed from her hands, knocking all three of them off their feet simultaneously.

"What was that?" Victor asked.

"Dark magic! I thought that the church had killed everyone who could use it!" Richard shouted.

"You want dark, _I'll show you dark_!" Raven said, her eyes were red now, he swore by God Himself that he saw four eyes instead of two. Gar was terrified. What was he going to do now? Black tendrils grabbed his legs and he fell to the floor. She began dragging him across the floor as she slammed his body into the walls.

"Come on, taunt me, and say something clever!" she sneered. "Where's all the boasting that you just told me earlier. How you stabbed my husband in the back."

Garfield was being dragged towards her cloak. Was he going mad or did she appear taller than she was before? He had to stop himself from going under that cloak; he could only compare that to being dragged to Hell.

Then he saw it, her sword, it had been batted away from Richard when he was thrown back. He reached out and grabbed it.

Raven saw him and knew there was no way she could stop him. Fear hit her in waves. She was going to die here, murdered like she was nothing.

She saw the blade; felt something hit her in the stomach. Raven looked down, half expecting to see blood pouring out. Instead, she saw the pommel of the sword, had been slammed into her, knocking the wind out of her. She collapsed. Her hood fell from her face.

Garfield was more than a little stunned. He had expected her to be different, her face to be cold and cruel like Malchior's, only he found that she was angry and bitter, and yet very sad, at least that was his first impression anyway. Her expressionless face made him wonder why she had to be this way. She was beautiful, and he contemplated how Malchior had managed to convince this girl to marry him. She was better than what he deserved in a spouse. She was actually loyal to the insufferable tyrant who had no qualms about being faithful or loyal to her.

"I didn't give you enough credit, you act like a fool, I underestimated you," she admitted.

"They all do," he replied.

"Execute me, that's what you're going to do, right? I'm a sorceress; your church would kill me."

"I'm not the church am I?" he retorted. "You can hate me, I couldn't care less. I may be a lot of things, but don't you _ever _call me a monster. The only monster is the one _you_ married."

"Why you—!" she began, but Richard clamped a hand over her mouth.

"Don't let her speak, she conjures spells that way," Richard said, he nodded at Victor.

Victor had twenty other soldiers restrain her. Gar turned on his heel and began walking away.

"This castle is ours. Take whatever you want, I don't care."

"What about Raven?" Richard asked.

"Take her back with us, I'll decide what to do with her then," Garfield's footsteps echoed as he left the room.

_She's too much like Terra; I don't want to think about either of them right now, _Terra had been able to move the earth with her mind. They called it "magic" but he wasn't sure what it was, all four of them had kept it secret from the church. They didn't want her to be killed for having a gift that no one could understand.

_Still, there's something about her I just can't shake. I'm leaving before I say something foolish and stupid._ He was finally away from her. Raven was like Terra, gifted with powers and misunderstood, but Raven was a shadow of Terra, and he wasn't about to replace his sole reason for vengeance with someone else, let alone _her_.

Raven's head slumped down, his echoing footsteps sounded like the sounds of a death knell. In one day, she had lost everything. Her husband, her home, and her freedom. Yesterday she died, and tomorrow was bleeding. Her life had shattered and there was nothing she could do about it.


	3. Chapter 2: Tomorrow's Bleeding

**Chapter Two: Tomorrow's Bleeding**

_**Disclaimer: **__ I do not own Teen Titans, and there won't be any Slade in this fanfic, Slade is way overrated and is in quite a few of my own fics and yet I've never used Malchior or Adonis. So no Slade, besides, his name isn't exactly Middle Ages sounding. The old English meaning of ass is fool, so that's why that word's in here; I'm not using it as a cuss word. P.S.: Some of this dialogue is not mine; it belongs to a famous manga artist, she's my favorite too. If you can tell me where it is, I'll review your latest story. Thanks._

Raven staggered forward, forcing her legs to keep moving. They had walked for hours without a break and a man called Adonis had made sure to make her keep walking even though her feet ached and she was exhausted.

"Everybody rest!" We're camping here!" Garfield shouted.

Raven felt utterly exhausted as she finally lay down. They'd walked for so long that her feet felt like they would fall off her ankles. She saw people, captives and soldiers alike began to take off their clothes. They were going to sleep outdoors, completely naked*****. Sleeping naked was normal no matter what status or class you were in, but at least in the city you didn't have to _see_ people nude. Raven did her best to avert her eyes and tried not to think about just how many people were sleeping this way. At least Lord Garfield's soldiers had been decent enough to distribute blankets to everyone, not that it was going to help much, considering how cold it was at night.

Garfield, Victor, and Richard were preparing to sleep as well.

"I _refuse _to sleep out here naked," Richard protested adamantly when another soldier suggested it. "What if we are attacked? How am I supposed to fight and protect myself?"

"It's fine in the city where people can't be seen, but there are men _and _women here!" Victor added vehemently. "I actually want to keep warm at night!"

"Sometimes I think that peasants have more common sense than the nobility, at least _they _know it's better to keep their clothes on out here, well _some _of them anyway," Garfield muttered.

They all slept; some fitfully, but it was easier for some more than others.

They would walk and then rest and this lasted for several weeks until they finally saw it, Jump Estate.

"Home at last," Garfield sighed. "It's been so long."

"It's finally over," Richard said, "Malchior is dead."

"I'm heading home," Victor said. "My horse and I are tired, aren't we Baby?"

Richard and Gar were always puzzled at why he named his horse Baby. They had tried to ask him once, but they never got a straight answer. Richard thought it was because it was because it was an easy name for the horse and Gar thought it was because he treated the horse like a baby. Either way the name stuck.

Raven was led into the estate. High walls surrounded it and she had seen wheat farms and pastures for cows and fields for hops and even an eel pond.

_Lord Garfield must live like a king, probably so arrogant and proud he wouldn't lift a finger to help anyone. He most like likely eats his fill, overtaxes the peasants and beds any woman who even looks at him_, she thought bitterly. These were many of Malchior's traits after he had become king and had observed that all the nobles who had come to their castle were this way too.

It disgusted her. After all Malchior's promises of making the kingdom a place where they could use their gifts to help the people, he had let the power intoxicate him so much that he wasn't the man she fell in love with and she didn't even recognize him anymore.

Gar was probably of noble birth and had overthrown Malchior because he craved power. That was the only logical explanation for his motives.

"All hail Lord Garfield," the crowd shouted, quickly lining the streets to meet the conquering hero. "Long live the King!"

Raven was astonished. They were cheering him. She could understand their point of view, her husband wasn't a prize but to see how genuinely happy they seemed.

"Good afternoon, my Liege," a farmer said, walking past them carrying a bundle of wheat.

"Make way for Lord Garfield and his prisoner, Malchior's widow, the witch Raven!" Adonis shouted.

The crowd turned, stared, and began hissing at her. A peasant walked up and spat in her face.

"You don't deserve to live!" he hissed.

"Get back!" Richard ordered sternly. "Let her be."

Someone threw something, it smelled rotten and she felt the spoiled fruit being pelted at her from all sides.

Adonis shoved her forward. "Get moving!" he barked.

Raven was led, utterly humiliated, into Garfield's castle. She was surprised at how modest it appeared, she had been expecting something with grand architecture, but noticed that it seemed to be built for practical reasons rather than for displaying his power.

"Take her to Lord Gar," Adonis ordered Richard, who resented him greatly since Adonis loved to give him and Victor orders just so he wouldn't have to do them himself. "He said he would decide what to do with her."

Garfield stepped into his throne room, utterly relieved to have returned home safely.

"At long last!" Garfield exclaimed. "I can sit in a chair and relax!"

He felt rested and called in a page to ask what he had to do.

"My king, Adonis has brought the witch Raven for judgment," he said.

"I do grow weary of people calling her "the witch", it's as if they _want _her to be evil just like Malchior," Garfield sighed.

"What do you mean?" the page asked.

"Forget what I've said. It doesn't matter anyway. Bring her in," he ordered.

Raven was led, in chains, trying her best to keep her emotions in control and not look utterly dejected. Unfortunately, she was failing miserably.

"She is a witch, Your majesty," Adonis began smugly. "We all saw her powers as she fought you. She tried to kill you and if you let her live, who knows what else she is capable of. We should execute her, but not before we make her suffer slowly, painfully before we burn her at the stake."

Garfield was disgusted. Adonis had been a torturer for a long time, he'd also been put in charge of management as his steward, though he had no idea why he did it, he hadn't found a suitable replacement for him yet. He needed Richard and Victor on the battlefield, maybe now he could finally have a reason to get rid of him.

Raven was terrified. She had lost everything. Were they going to kill her too? Something inside her broke and she couldn't take it anymore.

"Please, spare me," she said in a broken voice. "You've taken everything from me. I don't have anything anymore. At least…let me have my life."

Adonis bent down and struck her across the face.

"Silence, witch!"

"Adonis, control yourself!" Richard ordered. "It's beneath you to strike a woman, even her."

"Careful Adonis, you're really testing my patience," Garfield warned. He really wished Adonis would stop blowing hot air and stop trying to find an excuse to make the girl suffer.

Garfield saw Raven, weeping, though she was trying very hard not to. He pitied her and he wasn't like Malchior, who enjoyed having his captives tortured or if they were women, he would force them to become his mistresses if they had been nobles or scullery maids if they were peasants. Most of the time it had been the former. Having traveled with him for some time he had seen all this and resolved to not follow in his footsteps.

"I'm not going to kill you," he said.

"But Majesty!" Adonis protested.

"Victor, get him out of here," Garfield ordered. "I am tired of his constant talk of pain and suffering. There's been too much death already. I don't want to add to it with a needless execution."

Victor led Adonis out of the room.

"Don't think just because he let you live that I'm not going to make you suffer!" he glared at Raven.

She shuddered. Raven stared up at Garfield, not sure of what to expect.

His eyes looked weary, if not a little sad. He moved over to her and undid her chains.

"You're going to live here, as my servant, but I have a feeling you're not a person who grew up in the pampered, noble life either. If not for the people's strong dislike of you, I would probably let you go free, but if they killed you then it would be for nothing. You are better off here."

Raven felt anger stir inside her.

"You think you're so smug. That I don't see what you're doing? You're just like Malchior. Sure he was benevolent and kind in the beginning, but then he let his desire for more power overtake him and he became a monster. You're not showing me mercy to be kind; you're doing this so I'll be a prize you can gloat over."

Garfield stiffened, but decided to not say anything. He wouldn't be goaded by her words.

"We'll show you to the servants' quarters," Richard said, he led her away.

Raven was given a dress and privacy to change. She knew she shouldn't have spoken out of anger, but it just aggravated her that Garfield seemed _too good_. It was as if he could do no wrong and she knew that he couldn't be so good-hearted and flawless.

She would just have to accept that this was how she was going to live now. It was better than the fate Adonis wanted for her. She hadn't grown up in a life of privilege, and for the first time, she was grateful for it. She didn't even want to think about what she would have done if she had been. She was already used to hard work.

She'd just have to make the best of this situation.

Garfield had declared that after his official coronation that there would be a kingdom wide celebration of Malchior's defeat. The streets were bustling and the people were talking. For the first time, they seemed genuinely happy. They hadn't had a Holiday in so long, they'd almost forgotten about it.

The granaries were opened and food that had been stored for tribute to Malchior was being distributed freely. Ale, cheese, bread and meat were set out as the peasants prepared to enjoy food they had worked hard to prepare, but never got to eat. Malchior had taken all but a little of their food for himself and they had survived on bread and water.

At the castle the cooks were busy. Garfield had informed them that he did not eat meat. This surprised many of them, because nobles normally ate pork and eel and chicken. He only requested well cooked vegetables, some fruit and wine.

Raven was surprised. "He doesn't eat meat?"

"Yes, strange isn't it?" a cook replied. Not everyone in the castle was like Adonis. The rest didn't care who she was.

"It surprises me," she told him as she helped bring in food. She had warned them that she couldn't cook so they took note of it. They did ask her to bring in food though, and she could do that.

"You have to serve the guests," the cook said. She nodded. "Don't look so uptight, at least you're helping me and not Adonis."

Raven shuddered.

She was given a plate of food and was told to take it out. She had served a few guests, remembering to not look them directly in the eye; she had seen her own servants do this when Malchior held feasts. At least she'd paid attention to the servants; it had become knowledge that would help her survive in this place.

Another plate was handed to her. Vegetables, it was for _him_. She looked up and thought she saw Adonis smirking at her through the corner of her eyes.

Raven saw the large feasting hall was full of soldiers and rich guests. Though most of them were soldiers who had aided Garfield in overthrowing Malchior.

"Hello, Lady Kori," Victor said, hugging a beautiful red haired lady who was accompanying a man she remembered, she thought his name was Richard.

"Hello Sir Victor," she said. "It is nice to see you have safely returned. I had not been able to speak to you. I was busy curing all the soldiers."

"We can drop the formality now, we're all friends here," Richard laughed.

"Well, we are in a castle at a formal feast," Kori smiled. She had not been to a feast in a long, long time. Not since six years ago, when they all had gone to Malchior's feast, where Terra had been murdered. They hadn't smiled and laughed in ages.

Garfield saw the servants walk in as they began serving the guests. He saw the one who was going to serve him and didn't say anything. It was Raven. Adonis probably did this to rub it in her face and he decided it was best to not say anything to her.

Raven of course, knew this was exactly what Adonis wanted and decided if she shut her mouth and didn't say anything, maybe he wouldn't care.

She served him in silence and she made sure not to look him in the eye, not that she had the defiance to do so. This was just too humiliating.

He stared at her, deep in thought. Was he supposed to react to this? He supposed the tyrannical thing to do would be gloat, but he wasn't in the mood or frame of mind to do so. He hadn't overthrown Malchior to humiliate Raven, he'd done it for Terra, and he thought he should remind everyone why.

"I propose a toast," he stood up and said. "To victory."

"To lost friends," Victor said, raising his goblet.

"To all the men we lost," Richard added.

"To Terra," Garfield concluded.

Raven, who was busy serving other guests, had to wonder who Terra was. It wouldn't be the first time she would hear that name and she knew that Terra was important. She didn't know just how important, but she would lean that later on.

* * *

"_Hello, can anyone hear me?" Garfield called out. "I need help! I can't get out of here!"_

_He was trapped beneath a ruined building with no way out._

_Suddenly, the earth began to move. He could see the sky. A hand reached down to pull him out._

"_Who are you?" he asked._

"_My name is Terra, I heard you shouting. I wanted to help."_

"_How did you get me out?" he asked._

"_I have a gift. I can move earth with my mind," she replied._

"_That's truly amazing," Garfield said. "Where are you from?"_

"_The country of Markovia," Terra replied._

"_That's very far away," he laughed. "What are you doing so far from home?"_

"_I travel and use my powers to help others."_

"_Thank you," he replied._

"_Let's get you back to your camp; your Lord Malchior will be relieved to know you're alive."_

_Six Years Later…_

"_Look at him, up there so smug, acting like he can do whatever he wants," Garfield seethed. "It makes me sick."_

"_We'll only have to put up with it for a little while. Eventually, he'll be replaced," Richard said. _

"_When? I'm going to fix this country; I'm going to change it. A king should protect his people. The power of one person does not amount to much. As such, I will do all I can, however little it may be, to protect those dear to me."_

"_Geometric progression, huh?" Richard asked. "Which means…in order for you to protect this whole country, you have to be standing at the top of the pyramid." _

"_1 bet it looks awfully good up there, Richard. But I won't be able to climb up there all by myself. I'm sure of that much."_

"_What are you swaggering on about?" Richard asked. "This could be interesting," Richard said. "I'll take a piece of the action. I want to see how your naïve idealism changes this country."_

"_When I get there, those below me will protect those below them. We tiny humans, should be able to do that much, at least."_

"Garfield. Gar wake up!" Richard hissed in his friend's ear.

"I'm awake, good grief!" Garfield muttered.

"You keep sleeping!" Richard told him.

"Do you understand what they're saying?" Garfield asked Richard as quietly as he could during Sunday Mass.

"Yes, and you?" Richard replied.

"No, not one word, wish they would make it more simple," Garfield muttered. "I'm about to fall asleep."

"You can't do that, you're the _leader of this country_!" Richard said, still trying to keep his voice quiet.

"I can't help it, I always feel tired in Mass," Garfield protested. "It's not my fault I'm tired and that I can't understand a thing that's being said."

"I guess you'll have to have someone teach you Latin, you'll have to learn how to read and write too," Richard added.

"Oh great," he huffed. "Are they almost done?"

"I think they finished the Liturgy of the Eucharist, all that's left is the Communion rite and the Concluding Rite."

"You were adopted by Lord Wayne, so you know what all these things are."

"Yes."

"Are they done yet?"

"No."

"Oh God, make them hurry up and finish," Gar groaned.

"Don't be blasphemous, you'll have to do penance if they hear you!" Richard scolded.

"I'm being _serious_," Gar retorted. It seemed like forever, but at last, they were finished.

"Let's go home," Garfield said, relieved to get out of there.

* * *

Raven had never felt so hungry in her life. She had a feeling that Adonis was purposefully starving her. While all the other servants and peasants had enough to eat, she was always given half of what they received.

She sensed it was because of her status as Malchior's window. It was bad enough that the peasantry treated her horribly, but Adonis was in charge of the servants in the castle where she was. It was humiliating enough to be a servant to the man who had murdered her husband and taken everything from her, but now she had someone who hated her just because of who she married.

She crept into the kitchen. There was more than enough food there. She knew it would be bad if she was caught eating in there, so she smuggled out some deer meat and took it to her room.

It was very ironic that it was even in the kitchen, from what she heard, Garfield didn't eat meat. He only ate fruits and vegetables. It was probably for when other Lords from other estates would come to visit.

She knew about the rules when it came to eating food. Commoners were not allowed to eat the rich foods reserved for the upper class. They said that common peasants couldn't digest it. That was ridiculous of course, food was food, and your stomach could handle anything as long as it was cooked right.

She'd managed to get something to eat for a few weeks when one day, she had made it back to her room, when she saw him waiting for her.

"So this is what you do, you little witch," Adonis snarled. "You know the rules about food don't you?"

"Yes, but I'm starving—" Raven protested, but was viciously slapped so hard she hit the floor. She wanted desperately to use her powers but they had been made public by the church, afterwards they told her that if she ever used them they would kill her.

"You're only starving because you deserve it," Adonis mocked. "You think you're so high and mighty. You're no one here. I'm going to make you suffer."

She was dragged down to the dungeon and left there for a week. She received even less food than she had been eating and felt very sick.

Guards came and dragged her out to the town square and she visibly shuddered at the site of the executioners block, she also saw the stake where they burnt witches and sorcerers and the worst offenders. The gallows and the execution block were there if they were in a hurry and had multiple executions. The stretching rack was also there along with a flogging post, a branding chair and a gibbet. She hoped Adonis wouldn't put her on the rack.

They tied her to a post and Adonis came around to where she could see him. He was holding a whip.

"You see this? It will cut into your flesh like knives. You'll be in a lot of pain. Your back with throb in agony and if I keep flogging you, you'll bleed quite a bit. Normally, people who steal food would just be locked in the stocks but you; you _married _that piece of scum we had to call our king. Since we can't punish him, I'll punish _you_ instead."

The anticipation was horrifying. The first strike was even worse. Agony shot through her body like fire and she screamed. Adonis kept the whip in motion, the muscles in her back and shoulders spasmed and shook horribly.

She didn't know how long it lasted, but she was moved to the stocks before she drifted off into a weary sleep.

_She had tried to live a normal life; the Temple of Azar had been a secure safe haven for her. She had learned to control her powers. But she wanted to live in a normal city where people were. _

_She had traveled from the Temple of Azar and came to a town called Nol. She had lived there peacefully, without incident._

_Then one day, a cart had fallen on a man and he was trapped under it. She rushed over to him._

"_I can help you," she told him. "Azarath, Metrion, Zinthos!" she chanted her mantra. Her powers encased the cart and she moved it so the man could get out. He stared at her in awe. Others gazed at her, horrified._

"_She's a witch! She'll kill us or cast a spell on us with her magic!" they shouted._

"_I only used it to help you," she protested. "I don't want to—"_

_Their voices drowned out hers and they moved forward. They were going to burn her at the stake. She didn't want to hurt them with her powers so she turned and ran._

_They chased her until she was cornered and had nowhere to run._

_Raven had to make a choice, use her powers and escape or be captured and die._

"_Necronom Hezberek Mortix!" a voice shouted. White energy knocked the men back and they all fell, unconscious._

"_Who are you?" she asked the strange young man. He was dressed in armor and had long white hair and his face was covered except for his eyes and hair._

"_I am Malchior, and who are you?"_

"_Raven," she replied. She didn't know there were others like her in the world. It was comforting that she wasn't alone, having gifts that no one could understand._

_Raven looked at the longhaired young man, "You saved my life; I am in your debt."_

"_You are like me; we both have gifts the rest of the world will never understand."_

"_That's true, so what are you going to do now?" Raven asked. "I hope you don't mind if I travel with you."_

"_Me? I'm going to become king of this country. Then I'm going to make it a place where we can live without people ridiculing us for our gifts."_

"_That's very ambitious of you."_

"_I know, but just you wait, Raven," Malchior said, "We won't have to be afraid anymore."_

_They had set off together, hoping for a better life._

"Come now, witch. Wake up and eat!" Adonis taunted. He set a plate down; it had the ration that was normally given to the servants and peasants. "If you can reach it, I'll unlock your stocks and let you go." It was purposefully set barely out of reach of her fingers. Not that she _could _eat it even if she could reach it. She couldn't or wouldn't user her powers, but she still had to try.

Her back was throbbing painfully and the blood had dried, she felt horrible and could barely manage to think straight. Her arms were stiff from being in the stocks and her back and shoulders ached badly. She kept straining, trying frantically to reach the food she so desperately craved.

"Can't reach it, can you?" Adonis sneered, "A pity. If it were up to me, I'd sentence you to the breast ripper then I'd put you in a dunking stool. Burning you at the stake is too merciful, but Lord Garfield won't let me kill you." Raven visibly shuddered. She'd heard about all these horrible tortures and hoped he wouldn't actually follow through with it.

But the breast ripper was for adulterers and fornicators so that really didn't apply, but the threat was terrifying enough.

He began flogging her, not even bothering to move her to the flogging post. People were starting to gather around.

She refused to scream, her voice was hoarse and tired. Raven wouldn't give Adonis the satisfaction he seemed to get from her cries of pain. She kept her teeth gritted and tried not to make a sound.

"I won't stop until you scream!" he snarled. He began flogging her with harder strokes, bending his back to add more force.

"DAAAH!" the sound ripped out of her throat, the pain was too much and the agony flooded her senses.

Garfield, Richard, and Victor were walking home from Mass when Gar came to a dead stop.

He had never heard such an agonizing sound in his life. It cut him like a knife. He looked over and saw Raven in the stocks, with Adonis relentlessly beating her. He remembered when he had passed through the city and had seen Malchior's men flogging prisoners. Sometimes the king himself had shown up to watch and gloat.

He didn't know much about Raven. But he knew she wasn't a criminal. He remembered the harsh treatment she had received on their way back home, purportedly by Adonis. She looked so weak and tired, covered in blood. Compassion and pity stirred inside his heart and he walked over to her.

"Adonis, what's going on here?" a voice asked.

Raven stared. _He _was here, what did he want now? To come and gloat? Malchior used to do that, she thought it was sick and begged him to stop, but he ignored her. Garfield was probably behind this anyway; he just hated her that much.

"Lord Garfield, she stole food," Adonis said, looking very smug, "but I caught her."

"Why did she steal food?" Garfield asked. He had a feeling that this wasn't her fault.

"I'm starving—" Raven began. Adonis brought the whip down on her back and she screamed. Garfield visibly winced.

"Richard, take Adonis over there and ask him about what happened, I want to talk to her," Garfield said. Richard nodded; they both knew that Adonis had purposefully mistreated Raven just because of who she was. Garfield had promised the people they would always have food to eat, and that included her.

"Raven, is it true you're starving?" he asked gently.

Raven stared; the gentleness in his voice surprised her, along with the fact that he called her by her name. "What do you care, you probably came here to gloat."

"You may hate me, but please don't lie to me," he told her. "Is it true?"

"Yes," she answered. What was he going to do? She didn't know what to think of him.

"Who distributes the food in my castle?" he asked, although he knew the answer, he needed to confirm his suspicions.

"Adonis," she replied. "You're probably enjoying this, seeing me humiliated this way."

"Malchior is dead, he was the tyrant that we hated, there's no need for you to be a scapegoat for his sins."

Garfield called Adonis over to him. "You've been tormenting her on purpose, haven't you?"

"Lord Garfield, I'm merely punishing her for the crime of stealing, if it were up to me, I'd sentence her to the breast ripper, then the dunking poo. She's a witch and deserves to—"

Gar had had enough of his words. He removed his sword and struck Adonis across the face with the hilt.

"I'm only doing this in the name of justice!" Adonis protested.

"No you aren't, you just want to make her suffer. Stealing is something she wouldn't have had to do if she'd been fed like everyone else. I did notice she's getting thinner while you're getting fatter. If you wanted to hide the fact that you were eating her food you shouldn't have stuffed your face you swine. And I'm sick of hearing you talk." Though he pitied the pigs, they didn't deserve to be compared to Adonis.

But L—Lord Garfield, I—I only—" Adonis stammered, he knew he'd been caught.

"Stealing food is normally punished by being put in the stocks, not a flogging so vicious it looks like all the skin on her back is going to fall off."

"Victor!" Garfield called his friend over.

"Yes, Gar?" he asked.

"Take Raven to the apothecary, let Kori heal her wounds. Make sure she gets plenty to eat and plenty of rest. Poor girl looks like she's going to die."

"Richard, your job is to punish him the same way he's been tormenting Raven, it's only fair after all. Since he seems to like pain so much I think it's time he received some."

"You can't be serious!" Adonis protested.

"He is, and I'll be happy to do this," Richard said. "I've been waiting to put you in your place for awhile."

Adonis was led away and Raven was too weak to be relieved.

Victor helped her out of the stocks and she nearly fell over, she didn't even feel she could use her legs and took her a few minutes to even be able to walk. Victor led her to the apothecary where she would be treated for her wounds.

Kori frowned quietly, busy looking over all the herbs she had gathered. Making medicine was hard and making sure her cures actually worked was even harder, with all the superstition around it was difficult to distinguish it from genuine remedies for sickness, but she thought she managed well enough.

Kori looked up as Raven and Victor entered. Raven's wounds looked bad, but she knew she'd be able to tend them.

She began treating Raven.

"You tell me something," she said to Kori. "Why do people love him? They never say anything against him."

"Lord Garfield is not a evil man," Kori told Raven.

"I don't believe you," Raven told her. "He took everything from me."

"There is a reason for that," Kori explained. "But you are not ready to hear it."

"Why wouldn't I be?" she asked.

"It is not a good time for you to hear it," Kori continued applying herbs and vinegar to her wounds. "You will recover, Raven."

"You know me?" she asked.

"Only that you married Malchior."

"At least I'll get better," Raven said. Victor walked in.

"Are you well?" he asked.

"I'll recover," she replied.

"Good, he'll be happy to hear it."

"I don't believe you," she told him.

"He's not a bad man, he wants to change this country," Victor said. "He has good intentions, but not one person can teach him anything, he gets distracted easily."

"What is he trying to learn?" Raven asked.

"Latin, reading writing, and all the things he'll need to rule this country."

'I could teach him," Raven suggested, she didn't like him, but having a fool as a leader of a country was too humiliating to think about.

"I thought you hated him," Victor said.

"I don't like him, but I don't want this country to be ruled by an ass," Raven told him.

Victor laughed, "Very interesting choice of words, but still, after what he did to you—"

"I'm only doing this because he punished Adonis for all the horrible things he did to me; it will give me something to occupy my time until I fully recover."

"I see, I'll tell him that you're offering your services," Victor got up and prepared to leave.

"Could you answer a question for me?" Raven asked.

"Yes," Victor answered.

"Why won't Lord Gar see me himself?"

"He said it would be right for him to come, he didn't want to upset you by being here," Victor looked at her. "You need to rest."

Raven didn't need to be told twice; she lay down on the bed, closed her eyes and slept peacefully for the first time in months.

* * *

Garfield stood in a small clearing, it was a private place, there was a small, clear pond that he would often visit, to think and contemplate what he was going to do next. This was also the place where he had buried Terra, this had been their favorite spot to go and have long conversations. He had accomplished everything that he had set out to do. What was he going to do now?

"Hello Terra, what should I do now?" he asked. There was only silence.

"I'm sorry I was away so long, I had to stop Malchior before he destroyed this country. I guess you know about that better than anyone."

Terra was gone, but he always talked as if she were there with him. It was something he did and it comforted him somehow.

"I saw Raven today; Adonis was torturing her for no reason. She probably blames me for it. I wouldn't blame her though…"

"Gar," Victor called to him.

"What Vic," Gar asked.

"Raven has offered to teach you to read," he informed his best friend.

"You tell her that I was trying?" Gar asked.

"Yes," Vic replied.

"Why'd she offer?"

"She said she didn't want the leader of this country to be an ass."

Gar began to laugh.

"So she _does_ have a sense of humor," he chortled. "Please tell her I accept."

_**Author's Notes: **_

_*****__This is what I get for trying to write an accurate period piece. Sometimes what I learn scares me._

_I do feel tired in church about every Sunday, sometimes I do dose off and my mom has to wake me, and I'm not Catholic. Made sure to do research though, at least, for what I need to know._


	4. Chapter 3: Fall Into Your Sunlight

**Chapter Three: Fall into Your Sunlight**

**_Author's Note: _**_Please feel free to expand on this story if you want to, but all expansions must be approved by me. As for the name of this universe, I dub it…The SpellboundVerse, 'because it's heavily based off the "Spellbound" episode. And this universe relies on magic instead of superpowers. I apologize that Maldouche is not much of a douche bag in this chapter, but I guarantee you, he's going to turn into one._

_

* * *

_

_"This is the Romanomicon, a powerful book of magic and sorcery," Malchior opened the book. "I've learned many spells and incantations from this book."_

_She wasn't illiterate, in the Temple of Azar she had learned to read and write, but had never actually studied magic and usually spent her time in meditation._

_ She read the books he owned with interest and they had spent their time traveling the country. They had even traveled to the faraway country of Syr to read the mysterious stones there._

_Malchior had decided to work his way into the upper class by gaining the favor of a nobleman. No small feat, but he said he could manage._

_They were traveling from the country of Bursea after they had discovered the secrets of a fabled spell book called the Bursean Chronicle._

_They had heard rumors that King Sebastian Blood was going to be travelling through the area. "We should hurry," Malchior warned. "Bandits are everywhere."_

_They were walking quickly, trying to find an inn before dark. There were voices in the distance._

_"Almost home and none too soon!" Sebastian exclaimed. We'll be within the walls of our castle speedily."_

_They made their way through the woods. Suddenly, voices rose and shouts were heard._

_"Where did all these bandits come from?" Raven asked._

_"Just when I thought we were going to get through this without an incident," Malchior grumbled._

_"Necronom Hezberek Mortix!" Malchior chanted, sending bandits flying. Raven was back to back with him. She was ready for a fight._

_"Azarath, Metrion, Zinthos!" Raven shouted; waves of dark energy shot out, knocking bandits off their feet. She unsheathed a sword and started hacking away at the bandits. The remaining bandits fell dead at her feet and the rest fled._

_They looked up to see King Sebastian Blood staring at them. _

_"I'm impressed!" Sebastian replied. "Is that magic?"_

_"Yes, my Liege," Malchior replied._

_"I could use good people like you. Besides, it is not safe here. It would be best if you traveled with us."_

_They both bowed before him. "We would be honored, Your Majesty," Malchior said. They fell in line with the others in the group, and headed off to Steel Estate, also the capital of Steel Kingdom, for which it was named. _

_

* * *

_

Raven's thoughts spun as she paced back and forth, waiting for Lord Garfield to arrive. She had received word that he wanted to start lessons as soon as possible.

She hadn't decided what to make of him yet. He was a mystery to her. Just what were his intentions and motives and what his plans were for her. She was just grateful to be alive.

She saw him walk in, looking like he was awake, barely. He blinked and cleared his throat.

"Have I kept you waiting for long?" he asked, unsure of how this was going to turn out.

"No, I haven't been here long," she replied.

She began teaching him the basics, mainly the alphabet and such so he could learn to read, he hadn't had time to be taught, not even by Terra, because he was gone on so many campaigns.

_It's like teaching a stone. An absent minded stone that can't pay attention,_ she thought.

Still, he did try hard to pay attention. She did keep striking the table with a stick when he fell asleep and he did that quite often.

It took her most of the day to teach him the Latin alphabet. He'd finally managed to get the basics of it and she was relieved that she'd been able to pound it into his head, even though it seemed like an eternity before he got it.

"I suppose that's good enough for today," she said. "Any more and I don't think you'd be able to think."

"Thank you," he admitted. "You didn't…you didn't have to do this for me, you know."

"If you're going to rule this country, I don't want you to be stupid," she admitted. "That's the only reason why this is happening."

"I see. So we have an understanding, then?" he asked. At least they were going to be civil to each other.

"Yes, we have an understanding, Master," she replied. "I will be working if you have need of my services."

"All right, I will call you if I need you," he said, he turned and left, she soon departed to do chores. At least he wasn't trying to seduce her, he didn't act like an animal, like Malchior did, but still, and she didn't want to think about what would happen if he _tried_ to win her affections, she was afraid she just might let him.

_Garfield had lived in Jump Estate all his life. He had grown up working hard. He was a Fletcher by trade and didn't often leave the estate. Travel was dangerous. He could shoot a bow but he didn't have any military experience. Nobles' sons became knights. It had always been his dream to become one and travel the world. He was also a blacksmith and could mend swords._

_It was a long, tedious day. He had worked from early morning to late in the afternoon, only taking a break to eat some bread and water. Serfs didn't get to eat rich foods, not that Garfield was interested in meat, he had always been fond of animals and pitied the fact that they often ended up being eaten._

_He preferred fruit and vegetables instead and lived very simply. It wasn't a very eventful life but he was happy._

_He wiped the sweat off his forehead and continued carving the longbow he was making. Malchior had recently been crowned King of the realm and he was preparing to go to war to expand their territory._

_Garfield heard the door open and heard someone walk in._

_"How might I serve you?" he bowed respectfully upon seeing the knight. He didn't often have visitors during the day. The knight's visor was down, concealing his face._

_"You are a blacksmith, are you not?" the knight asked, gazing at all the tools and the anvil. _

_"Yes sir," Garfield replied._

_"What's your name?" the knight asked._

_"Garfield," he replied._

_"I want you to make a sword for me, as commissioned for a very important noble."_

_"Of course, what does he want?"_

_The knight gave him the specifics._

_"I'll have it done as soon as I can."_

_The knight left. Garfield finished the sword in three weeks. The knight was surprised that he had finished. He took it back to the noble and gave it to him._

_"Lord Malchior," Richard said, presenting him with the sword. "Here it is, as you requested."_

_"Excellent," Malchior said, "Who made this?"_

_"A blacksmith named Garfield," Richard replied._

_"It's the finest sword I've ever seen. Have him drafted into the royal army. I need all the men I can get; we're going to make this kingdom great again."_

_"Yes, Liege," Richard replied. He'd send someone to the town right away, he wouldn't have time to see Garfield in person, but he had a feeling that they would meet again eventually._

_

* * *

_

Raven had been busy with work the entire afternoon. It was time to clean everyone's clothes. She carried them down to a pond she had found and began washing them. It was warm and the sun was bright in the sky. She felt her life was actually better for a change.

She heard a _snap_ as she heard someone walking a short distance away from her. Raven looked up and saw Lord Garfield quietly bend down and pick up some small stones. He began skipping them across the lake and after a few moments, he stopped and began talking off his shirt.

_What is he doing?_ She thought. She knew it wouldn't be right for her to watch him, she should be working but she couldn't help but be curious.

He took off his pants and turned to face her, although he wasn't even looking at her. Raven felt a blush coming to her cheeks.

Lord Garfield was _built_, even more than Malchior, who did have muscles but did not do too much physical exercise because he relied on his magic. Garfield wasn't huge, muscle-wise but he had broad shoulders and strong arms. He turned around and she noticed he had muscles in his back and shoulder blades where you didn't think there _were_ muscles**._*_ **She noticed a scar across his upper chest and wondered where it came from.

He suddenly dove in with a loud _splash_ and Raven quickly turned her mind back to her work. She shouldn't be watching him. She had to finish and leave. Why did he come _here_ of all places? Raven sighed; it seemed there was no way to get away from him.

She was surprised he actually liked to swim,*** **considering the fact that it was a superstition that the plague was spread through water. She didn't believe that of course, but she hadn't really seen anyone swimming since she had arrived there.

Suddenly, a hand caught Raven by the front of her dress and she shrieked as she was hauled into the water. She came up, splashing about, getting her bearings and looked around for the perpetrator, only to find Lord Garfield laughing loudly.

"The look on your face is unforgettable," he laughed. "I think that's one of my best antics that I've pulled off."

"Do you always engage in such frivolity on unwitting strangers, Master?" she asked, adding "Master," to remind herself that she didn't have the right to speak openly with him.

"Sometimes," he replied. "You continue to surprise me. You can swim."

She didn't say anything.

Garfield was desperately trying to think of something to say so he wouldn't have to think about _looking_ at her. She was _exquisite_. She had soft features but did not have the noble classes "I am much better than the common peasant" attitude he had seen among the women who had been Malchior's mistresses. He never thought they were attractive.

Gar noticed the calluses on Raven's hands; she might have been a peasant at some time in her life. Nobility never knew what hard labor was, all of Malchior's mistresses had been of noble birth and didn't have to work and it was amusing, watching them as they tried to adjust to a servants' life. It was more comedic than anything. He had to wonder what he had done, what profession she might have chosen; she carried herself like a noble person, even more so than the rich and powerful did. And she seemed to carry a heavy weight on her shoulders, some dark secret.

She had slightly short violet hair and gray skin, which made him wonder if she really was human. She had a thin build but wasn't weak, and he was impressed that she didn't shriek at the sight of dirt, like some of the others they had brought back from Steel Estate, he contemplated shutting them away just so he wouldn't have to hear them complain.

She also had a very nice figure, which didn't help him at all, considering that it wouldn't really be right for him to be attracted to her, but he couldn't resist. She was mysterious and alluring and he couldn't help but felt drawn to her.

_How could that creep want _my_ wife Terra when he had _her? He thought. It didn't make any sense at all.

"Here, I'll help you out," he told her, he led her to the shore and he pulled her out.

"You look like you're cold," he said. Despite the warm weather, he could see she was visibly shaking. "Take this," he offered her his cloak. "And get out of your soaked clothes. When you're dry you can finish your work."

He turned and left. She watched him go, confused, what had just happened? And why was he _staring _at her like that?

She didn't know what to think. Was he actually _attracted_ to her? It was too confusing and she wasn't sure about her feelings regarding him. He had taken everything she had ever had and destroyed it, but despite that she hadn't been able to take her eyes off him when she saw him, until she had forced herself to keep working.

She was utterly bewildered, not even Malchior had looked at her in such a manner. Was it lust or something else? She didn't know, but she was going to do her best to put it out of her mind.

Garfield was busy pacing up and down, trying to distract his usually easily distractible mind, it wasn't working. His thoughts kept going back to her, how beautiful she was and he couldn't stop thinking about her even though he was desperately trying to.

He would never be able to have her, it wouldn't be right, after all, he killed her husband and had indentured her to servitude, how could he possibly have her fall in love with him?

He called for some wine; he needed to clear his head. He drank a cup, the taste did help him a little, and it gave him something to think about.

Raven asked Victor if she was allowed to leave the castle, he told her yes, but not to try anything suspicious. He also warned her to be careful; the peasants didn't like her very much.

She told him she would return in a few hours, since her chores were done.

She left the palace and made her way to the local inn. She raised her hood up over her face. She walked into the building.

"Get me the strongest ale you have, I _really _need a drink," she asked, putting a few crowns on the table, they paid her wages, which surprised her, but not nearly enough to buy her freedom.

"All right," he said. He began pouring her a large mug of ale. She began drinking; it made her feel better already. By Azar, whoever invented Ale deserved all the thanks in the world. She'd never been one to drink, but right now, she was glad she could.

* * *

_They were surrounded. There were so many bandits they didn't even know how many there were._

_"Oh fo*****—" Garfield began to curse._

_"Garfield, shut your mouth!" Terra shouted angrily at him._

_"Yes, Milady," he squeaked nervously. There was no telling what she was going to do if she became angry._

_"Well, this is krape***** isn't it?" Garfield asked._

_"Must you constantly swear?" Terra countered._

_ "I only swear when I'm very angry," Garfield replied._

_"I noticed," Terra told him._

_They stood, back to back, fighting off the bandits with relative ease; he had been trained as a knight and knew how to fight in close combat._

_Terra used her powers to send rocks smashing into the bandits, but they just kept coming and they were beginning to wear down._

_Suddenly a man came riding in, wielding a large battle axe; he began chopping down bandits like trees. Gar ran a bandit through with his sword and quickly decapitated another. _

_Terra withdrew a small knife from inside a pouch and threw it into a man's throat. He fell dead with a gurgle. _

_The man beheaded a bandit who was trying to run away as the rest fled at the arrival of the newcomer. Garfield was relieved the man had shown up when he did, he didn't know how long they were going to be able to hold out until help arrived, but luckily, the man had found them._

_"What's your name stranger?" Garfield asked the dark skinned man who had fought off the bandits. _

_He told them his name. He gaped at him._

_"What does it mean?" Garfield asked. "There is no way I can properly pronounce that."_

_"It means "the victor", and I quite like my name," the man said._

_"Can we just call you Victor?" Garfield asked._

_"That is fine with me," he said._

_"Where are you going Victor?" Garfield asked._

_"I heard that Malchior is declaring war on Gordania and that he needs all the men he can get. I'll offer him my services."_

_"Then come with us, we are headed that way as well," Garfield said._

_They set off together and all their adventures were just beginning._

* * *

"Richard, look at Gar, he's stone drunk," Victor said. Garfield was stumbling around the room and knocking things over.

"I noticed, he's never drank that much before. I wonder what's troubling him," Richard frowned.

Victor looked up and saw Raven staggered back into the hallway. "I think she's worse than he is!"

"They're _both_ drunk, what is going _on_ with them?" Richard asked.

"This is better than a travelling fair!" Victor chortled.

"Hey, at least we don't need to ask for a show," Richard joined in. Yes, the two of them were very entertaining when they weren't sober. And Garfield had to _try _to be funny. At least they'd found out that eight goblets of wine actually made their friend amusing. They were right; he tried too hard to make them laugh.

"We're not going to tell him what he's been doing right?" Victor asked.

"Where would the fun be in that?" Richard agreed. They burst out laughing. This would just be their secret.

_"What do you want for your life, Gar?" Terra asked, sitting next to him by the fire Victor had helped them build._

_"I just want to go on an adventure, see new places, that's why I was overjoyed when I was drafted. I'm not noble born so I never thought I'd get to become a knight."_

_"Me, I like to travel, see new places, and help people," Terra replied._

_"So what do you plan to do after this war is over?" Gar asked._

_"Settle down somewhere, find a nice husband, a girl can dream can't she?" Terra asked._

_"Who's the lucky man?" he asked._

_"I don't know, I'll tell you when I find him," she replied._

_"Whoever he is, he'll be really lucky," Garfield said._

_"What about you?" she asked. "Don't you want to start a family?"_

_"Maybe, sometime, but not until the war is over," Garfield looked thoughtful. He had never given women much thought, but Terra was different, she seemed to understand him and he enjoyed her company. Maybe he found someone special after all._

_

* * *

_

Garfield staggered down the hall, trying to find his bedchamber. He couldn't remember where it was; at least he was trying to.

He stumbled, fell and hit something soft, and gazed down at the figure of a woman.

"Raven," he grumbled, "That you?"

"Yes, Masterrgh," she slurred.

"You sound worse than me," he countered.

"Least I look better than you," she added with a slurred laugh.

It was strange; he'd never heard her laugh. He wondered what she sounded like when she was sober.

"That you do, you look lovely," he added, not quite sure what he'd just said. She blushed.

He looked down and realized she was beneath him, his arms kept her pinned between them. Oh, this wasn't good, or was it? He couldn't remember.

"How many did you have?" he asked.

"Ten, and you Master?" she replied.

"Eight," he told her.

"See, I can out-drink you too," she gulped. What was she doing down on the floor? And why was he on top of her? This was supposed to be a bad thing wasn't it?

"You're not going to sleep with me are you?" she asked.

"Huh?" he slurred, he didn't understand what she just said.

"Nothing, I'm not a slutte*****," she managed to say.

"What'd you say?" he asked.

_Thank Azar he's dense,_ she thought, relieved.

"Master, I gotta get up," she murmured.

"Right, right," he replied as he rolled off her and clamored to his feet. He turned and tried to walk away but smacked his head on the wall and fell over. Raven actually started laughing.

She stumbled back to her room and Richard and Victor had to help Garfield up and back to his room.

Raven lay in her bed and tried to sleep. She was very confused and unsure of her emotions. She was trying to sort out her feelings and figure out what she was supposed to do.

Garfield frowned and tossed and turned in his bed. Too much was happening between them too fast. They'd fallen into each other's arms on accident! They were both drunk and he couldn't even remember what he'd said but he recalled that she had blushed.

He was trying to sort out his feelings, was he really going to replace Terra so soon? And with _Raven _of all people? He remembered Terra, and he knew that if she could speak with him, he knew she would want him to be happy.

He finally drifted off to sleep and tried to ease his troubled mind.

**_Author's Note:_**

**_*_**_I did find out they did have the F word back then, except it was spelled with an o instead of a u. _

**_*_**_ krape is old English for crap._

_* My brother's in the army and he lifts weights all the time and he's _built_, and he's like "I'm getting fat and my muscles (abs) are gone." And I'm like, "Nope they're not." He's built like this by the way. And he's got awesome tattoos!_

**_* _**_Swimming was not popular in the Middle Ages, as they thought plague could be spread through water._

**_*_**_ Slutte is old English for slut. Yep, that word existed back then._

_If you want to write a side story for this fanfic, here are some guidelines:_

_1. Write realistically for this universe. This is set in the Middle Ages, so if you write for it, think about how they would talk in the middle ages, no slang. If you're going to have cuss words in your fic, please look at how they would spell it back then (PM Me, I'll give you how they were spelled back then and I will allow cussing as long as it's not overkill)._

_2. Write and try to be historically accurate, if you want help and have questions, PM me I'll help you research anything you need to know._

_3. Keep the characters in character. If they're not in character it won't be good._

_Those are my three simple guidelines. If you want to write something let me know and I'll help you set up the DocX so you can send me your fic so I can approve it._


	5. Chapter 4: The Future's Open Wide

**Chapter Four: The Future's Open Wide, Beyond Believing**

_Author's Note: I suppose you're wondering why Maldouche hasn't been acting like a douche bag, well, he is in this chapter. Enjoy!_

Raven happened to be walking through the castle gardens, there had been a feast that night, she'd finished her chores and took the time to rest and not do anything. She came across a fountain and sat down beside it. Flower petals were falling from the balconies and landing in the fountains. She reached out and plucked up a rose blossom floating by her. She had always loved roses. Malchior, before he had changed, used to bring her roses, but after he became King, the roses stopped and he chased other women.

"Are you all right?" a voice asked. She turned and stared. It was Lord Garfield. She couldn't stop staring, she began blushing.

_She's so gorgeous,_ he thought. _The scent of roses, it's all over her._

She couldn't speak, she couldn't even move. She was unsure of what to say.

"Those blossoms, do they please you?" Garfield asked. He was completely tongue tied. He wasn't like all the other nobles who looked down on servants. She had always intrigued him, ever since he had first laid eyes on her. But tonight, he was completely mesmerized. She was wearing a beautiful dress, he had requested that all the servants wear the finest clothes in the castle and she was wearing a black and blue gown that made her even more exquisite than even he remembered.

"Huh—uh—well—yes," she managed to stammer out.

"As well they should, ah, what I mean to say is, are you well Raven?" he was concerned about her.

"I must depart," she told him. She had to leave, it was all too much, and he was focusing on her. He had guests to entertain and he shouldn't waste his time with her.

"Why?" he asked, moved closer to her. He took her hand in his, leaning forward slightly.

"I have…work I have to do," she replied, coming up with an excuse. He didn't believe a word she said though.

"Please, Raven, you can stay," he said in a voice barely above a whisper. His lips were centimeters away from hers.

"No, I can't," she told him and pulled away. He watched her go without a word.

Garfield watched her leave and sighed, "I can't believe I did that."

He saw her retreat into the distance. "I can't believe I've fallen in love with you so quickly. I shouldn't feel this way….but I do…"

She was gorgeous and witty and intriguing and everything that he had ever wanted in a woman, even more than Terra was, and he had loved her so much.

These feelings had surfaced shortly after the drunken incident; he still remembered staring down at her and the blush on her face. Whatever he said must have been a compliment.

His thoughts were constantly about her, he couldn't go anywhere without seeing her. It was torment beyond reason.

Raven managed to make it back to her room. She was breathing heavily. What had she done? What was she supposed to do? Her emotions were conflicted, so much that she thought she might lose her sanity. Her feelings for Malchior were still a part of who she was. She couldn't just give them up like they didn't matter. She sighed, what was she supposed to do?

She needed to maintain as little contact with him outside of lessons as possible. She was afraid he was going to break her resolve to hate him.

_King Sebastian Blood has been very ill for several months. He wondered if he was going to die and he called for Malchior._

"_I don't have any sons to carry on my name; I want you to be my heir. You're a good man, I see you as family," Sebastian Blood gave him a small smile._

"_I don't really think there's any need for that, they said you're going to recover," Malchior assured him. _

_Sebastian sighed, "That's very good."_

_He didn't hear Malchior bring in a pitcher of water, didn't hear him soaking a cloth in it. Before he could react, he felt a wet cloth being held over his face. He struggled to breathe. He felt like he was drowning. Only then did he realize he had been cruelly betrayed by a man he had called his friend. He went limp in a few minutes and died in his bed__*****__._

"_You old fool," Malchior smirked. "You always _were _too trusting. It all went exactly as planned."_

_He had been planning this for quite some time. He had thought of everything, even how to poison Sebastian without arousing suspicion. Since the cup bearer would taste everything before the king did to check for poison he always put it in after he knew the cup bearer had tasted it so everyone would think that there was no poison in the food or drink._

_He had planned everything perfectly. There was no one to oppose him now._

_Malchior went out to the other servants and said, "King Sebastian Blood is dead. He has named me his heir."_

"_He really told you that?" Raven asked. She was stunned; everyone said that King Sebastian would recover. _

"_Yes, he did, he told me earlier today, he fell asleep and died."_

"_Long live the King! Long live the King!" the servants began shouted. Malchior smiled and Raven's blood ran cold. There was something in his eyes and it terrified her._

_

* * *

_

Gar was restless; he needed to take a walk.

"I'm going out," he told Richard.

"All right," Richard replied.

He headed to the pond and decided to visit Terra's grave. He saw a lovely field of irises had sprung up around her grave.

"Irises," he murmured, they had been Terra's favorite flowers.

_Even here irises grow, _he thought.

"It's not fair!" Gar exclaimed. "I have found love, in a place where love should never bloom." Why'd it have to be _her_ of all people? Love was like a flower. It was planted, then it grew, it bloomed and blossomed, and for him, it had literally died in his arms, and now, it was happening again. Would he lose Raven just like he lost Terra? If she ever returned his feelings in the first place.

"Terra, I'm sorry," he apologized. He bowed his head quietly and looked over at her grave. Her statue stared at him. Not like she could talk to him anyway.

He hated to admit it, but he had fallen in love with Raven. He'd betrayed his love for Terra in the worst way possible, at least that's how part of him felt. The other part felt that Terra would have wanted him to be happy.

Raven had finished all her duties and was taking a walk outside. She'd wandered down to the pond and began walking around it; it was a short distance, but not too short. It still gave her plenty of exercise.

She had reached the other side of the pond when she thought she heard some noise. She moved forward and saw a figure kneeling by a grave and she couldn't see the inscription.

"Lord Garfield?" she asked.

Garfield looked up at her.

"Are you alright Master?" she queried.

"I'm fine," he replied. "Why are you here?"

"I was just walking here, Master," she replied.

"I see," he told her. "We should head back. It's getting late and the clouds are rolling in."

"Climb up," he said. "There's no sense in you walking back."

"What would you—" they both began as they started off.

"Nothing," Garfield said. "You answer first."

"What would you want, if you could have anything Master?" she asked.

"I would want…to just get away from it all, to not think about everything that's happened, even to live a normal life, without my burdens."

"Sounds nice, Master," Raven murmured. It must be nice, not having a heavy weight on your shoulders.

"We'll find some neutral shelter. We won't make it back in time."

"All right, Master," Raven said stiffly.

He led the horse to a small cabin.

"Aren't you going to dry your clothes?" he asked.

"Uh—No," she said quickly.

"What? Why not?" Gar asked. She looked like she was soaked.

"Because I'm fine as I am," she sputtered. He didn't expect her to change _in front of him_ did he? "And I don't change in front of others."

"Seriously? It's nothing I haven't seen," he said. It's not like he was going to _watch_ her undress, he would give her privacy…well maybe a _quick_ peek wouldn't hurt. Then he remembered what she was like when she was angry and decided against it.

"That's not the point, Master," she said quickly.

"Fine, be shy," he told her coyly, an amused expression on his face. "It's on you if you catch your death."

"If you'll excuse me, Cielo requires attention. Feel free to dry off while you have your privacy, drying him will take an eternity." He shut the door behind him.

He groomed Cielo getting him cleaned and dried off as much as he could. Raven began removing her clothes except for her chemise and hung up her wet dress to dry.

She stared blankly at the fire; she just hoped she'd be able to get her clothes dry soon.

"You're hopeless, you know that?" Gar's voice asked as he opened the door.

"Raven…" he began, mesmerized by the sight of her, he moved towards her.

Raven let out a shriek and moving backwards, she stumbled and fell over the chair she had been sitting on and she fell back toward the burning fireplace. Garfield launched himself forward, managing to grip her wrist and pull her away from the fire, the chair she had knocked over, sent his shirt into it in the process.

There was a moment of silence, Garfield finally regained his wits and realized he was sprawled out on the floor on top of Raven, his arm flung across her sides. She was the first to open her eyes and let out a surprised gasp.

Gar pushed himself up so he was on his hands and knees. He took in the sight of her, beneath him, blushing as she stared up at him like a trapped deer.

He gazed down at her for a moment and then noticed Cielo neighing outside. He quickly got to his feet and stood up.

"Uh, sorry," he apologized and turned and made his way outside to his horse, practically running.

"Come," he said. "Let's away."

He took her hand and helped her up onto the horse, he sat behind her. He couldn't help but feel glad.

Raven's mind began to wonder. Just who _was_ Lord Garfield?

* * *

_Garfield was quiet in Mass as he listened to the reading. He managed to stay awake and he finally left. _

_Richard had returned from a long journey and he called them over to his estate._

"_I have something to show you," he pulled it out. "It was very expensive but it was worth it."_

_It was a Bible, one printed by __Gutenberg. _

"_That's nice, we can actually read it too," Victor said._

"_Can't be that interesting," Garfield said._

_Richard began looking through it. He began thumbing through the books and came across the stories about King David. The three of them enjoyed these stories, because they understood war._

_One day, they were reading about the story of Absalom__*****__ when Garfield actually began to pay attention. He'd been preparing for his coup for a long time, but was unsure of how to win the people over._

"_Wait, how did he win the people over again?" Garfield asked._

"_He basically waited by the gate and patronized everyone there. "And Absalom said unto him, See, thy matters are good and right; but there is no man deputed of the king to hear thee. Absalom said moreover, Oh that I were made judge in the land, that every man which hath any suit or cause might come unto me, and I would do him justice!" Richard read and gave Garfield a look. "You're going to do this aren't you?"_

"_Sounds like a good plan to me," Garfield said. "It worked didn't it?"_

"_Well Absalom won the people over, but the coup didn't end well," Richard said. "And he took three darts in his hand, and thrust them through the heart of Absalom, while he was yet alive in the midst of the oak. And ten young men that bare Joab's armour compassed about and smote Absalom, and slew him." That's what it says. David's captain of the guard Joab gutted him."_

"_He deserved that, he was a villain," Garfield muttered._

"_And you, you're not a villain?" Victor asked._

"_Of course not!" Garfield insisted. "How did he get stuck in a tree?"_

"_He had ridiculously long hair," Richard said._

"_Good thing I don't have that either," Garfield laughed, "and I'm not a villain."_

"_What else did he do during this coup?" Garfield asked. Pouring himself a glass of wine, he began drinking._

"_He…well, I don't know if you would want to do part of this plan," Richard admitted._

"_What part?" Gar asked._

"_Absalom went and slept with David's concubines, to disgrace David and boost morale," Richard stared at the text. That must have been_ some _morale boost. _

_Garfield spat out his wine in surprise._

"_That's like a mistress right?" Garfield thought about it for a moment. "That means I'd have to…go sleep with his wife." He shuddered at that. He had heard rumors that Malchior had a spouse, but he supposed it was only a rumor, he never talked about a wife nor did Gar ever see anyone who acted like they were married to him when he had been at the castle._

"_I may want to overthrow Malchior but I'm not _that_ desperate."_

"_But you still are going to, aren't you?" Victor asked._

"_Yes, Victor, I am," he replied. No one was going to stop him._

Garfield sighed, what had happened earlier that day? Sure he'd pulled her from the fire, keeping her from falling in. That was the chivalrous thing to do, but being close to her…exhilarated him more than anything.

She had looked ravishingly beautiful and even though she was modestly covered, she was still alluring. The blush on her face had embarrassed him. He had made a quick getaway out the door to regain his composure.

Raven was still trying to regain her composure in her bedchamber. She had to teach him lessons since he had decided to postpone them to the afternoon.

Lord Garfield was far more intriguing than she had suspected, there was something about him that attracted her. He was as handsome as any man she'd seen, but there was something else. He seemed very open with her and did not look down on her for being a servant. He always seemed to respect her.

She did not forget what he had done to her, however and refused to entertain the thought of having any feelings for him. But he was still intriguing.

She sighed, straightened her dress and prepared to go to the main room. She had to give Garfield his lessons after all.

_Garfield Logan sat in his estate with Richard and Victor at his side. He didn't say much to either of them. All he did was stare blankly at the wall._

"_She's gone," he said. "Terra's gone."_

"_We know Gar, we were all there," Richard told him._

"_We won't let him get away with this," Victor said._

"_It's not fair," Gar said. "Why did they shoot her?"_

"_She _did _refuse to sleep with Malchior," Victor told him. "His Majesty is a spoiled child, who throws a tantrum when he can't get what he wants."_

"_He's a murderer," Garfield said. "I still don't understand…"_

_Suddenly, a dark realization hit him. All the knights knew that Malchior chased other women, especially if they were other married women. He'd heard rumors that one of his best generals was shot down in battle and he conveniently seduced the wife afterwards._

"_He was trying to kill me…" Gar's voice trailed off. "And he…and he ordered that...I…be…shot…"_

_The realization was too much for him to handle. "NO! NO! NO! NO! NO!" He began screaming the word uncontrollably, knocking off the wine goblet on the table and sent the plate of food flying, spilling its contents on the dirt floor._

"_She died. She died because of me. It's my fault she's dead," Gar said, burying his face in his hands. He remembered feeling her life ebbing away as she lay in his arms. He remembered her last words and remembered seeing Malchior concerned over her. He suspected Malchior had murdered her on purpose, only to discover that _he _was the intended victim.__*****_

"_What am I going to do?" he asked his friends._

"_You're going to get a hold of yourself, Garfield," Victor said, firmly taking his friend by his shoulders. _

"_You have to be strong, for Terra, for Kori, for all of us," Richard said._

"_You're right," Garfield said, taking in a deep breath. "I _am_ going to make him pay for this."_

_The inferno that was his rage would not be sated until Malchior was a dead man. He wouldn't stop until he killed him. He was going to make him pay for what he did to Terra. He wasn't going to do whatever he pleased anymore. But it would take time and planning, fortunately, he had three friends who were very good at those things. _

_

* * *

_

She was waiting for him and didn't say a word to him as he walked into the room. She ran him through how to read Latin and she began teaching him how to read in English. He struggled at first, but he began to understand, he had received some education when he was training to become a knight, but it wasn't nearly enough, which is why she had become his tutor in the first place.

Malchior had been all those things, Charming, witty, well educated, but he had used all these things to manipulate and control others. There was something noticeably different about Garfield, he had most of these characteristics but he had a conscious and he was a rather decent fellow, even though she was thoroughly set on hating him for the rest of eternity.

Raven watched him with interest as Gar continued to progress in learning everything she was teaching him. He had memorized the alphabet and now she was teaching him the grammar structure and how to read Latin.

She kept it simple and she was surprised that he was quite intelligent; he was smarter than she gave him credit for. She recalled that everyone seemed to underestimate him. That was something that she wouldn't forget any time soon.

"Is there any real point in me learning all this?" Garfield asked, gesturing to the books.

"You mean the etiquette and diplomacy and the laws I suppose, Master," Raven sighed. "Yes, you have to learn all this."

"And how does this help me become a better ruler again?" he queried. He wasn't interested in these books one bit. Neither was he interested in chess, or hunting or other pastimes that held the attention of other nobles. He also had no intention to become a glutton or a philanderer, he wondered how they could act this way constantly. He would rather hear stories or participate in jousts or take long walks.

The leisurely life of a nobleman did not appeal to him in the slightest. His takeover had been born of necessity and vengeance, the latter being more important to him than the former.

"Don't you believe in justice, Master?" she asked.

That caught his attention. Since when were the nobility truly interested in genuine justice? Gar sighed aloud. How long had it been since he'd used that word?

_Malchior was in the inn at Jump Estate when he heard about the speech the man called "Absalom" was giving in the square. The stories were that this man was an insurrectionist who spouted lies about him and his rule over the people. He wanted to see this man for himself. He arrived at the square with his best archer._

"_Kill him!" Malchior ordered._

"_Fellow citizens, my friends, tonight, Malchior's iron grip on this country will be broken!" the man who called himself Absalom shouted. "I will bring him down and put an end to his rule over you. I will eliminate his stupid laws and make your lives easier, and all you have to do is follow me."_

"_I will—" he began, when he was struck through the heart by an arrow. He dropped dead. The people gasped in shock._

_Malchior laughed. So much for an uprising._

"_Hear me, citizens!" Malchior moved up to where the dead man had been standing, he shouted. "Anyone who spreads distention will meet the same fate! I will—"_

"_I had to test this just in case, but I—I never thought it would actually happen. Malchior, if you did indeed kill the man known as Absalom in front of everyone, I should tell you that he was a prisoner, whose execution was scheduled for today, that was not me!" a voice shouted from nowhere. _

"_What?" Malchior shouted, he glanced around wildly. He couldn't pinpoint the source of the voice nor why it sounded not quite human._

"_I assure you, Absalom is real, I _do_ exist," Garfield spoke through the contraption Victor had invented that could amplify his voice so he could speak from far away._

"_Now, try to kill me!" Garfield taunted. _

"_You b*****d!" Malchior snarled._

"_Come on, kill me! Right now!" Garfield shouted, he could actually _see _Malchior's reactions, but he was out of range of the archers and he could only gloat at how well this had turned out. His voice was distorted by the invention and he thought it was for the best; after all, he wouldn't want to be identified by his voice._

"_What's the matter? Can't you do it?" Gar goaded. "Well Malchior, it seems that you can't kill me after all."_

_People were talking; his spies were reporting that some were siding with him. This was very good._

_Gar waited for a moment, "So there _are _some people you can't kill. But it won't be too long before I am able to sentence you to death. Let's meet again soon, Malchior." _

"He's _going to sentence me to death?" Malchior scoffed. "Sounds interesting! I accept your challenge Absalom."_

"_Absalom…" Malchior began._

"_Malchior…" Garfield spoke aloud._

"_I will hunt you down wherever you are hiding and I _will_ eliminate you!" they both said, even though Malchior was in plain view._

"I_ am," Malchior began._

"I _am," Gar said._

"JUSTICE_!" Their voices were unified on that one, single word._

_Gar smiled, he was having_ so_ much fun._

_**Author's Notes: **_

_*****__ Thank God for the Bible, I knew it would come in handy when I need it, I was actually thinking of how to pull off this coup and then I remembered that story._

_*****__ Bible stories are so handy. Seriously, even if you don't believe in it, there are some really interesting stories in there. Ben-Hadad, the King of Aram died this way after his servant Hazael went to the prophet Elisha to ask him if his master was going to recover and Elisha told Hazael he was going to be the next king of Aram. Hazael told Ben-Hadad he was going to recover, and then he smothered him with a wet cloth._

_*****__ I have never written a character having a heroic blue screen of death before, writing one for Gar was too much fun._

_Had to throw in a Death Note reference, don't really like the manga or the anime, mainly because of Lightdouche, and I hate Light Yagami, but I had to do the reference just because Maldouche is like Light Yagami, but without a Death Note. I always rooted for L; Beast Boy is like L in this regard, but with a revenge motive._

_The RomeoXJuliet references are obligatory as it's the only romantic anime or anything that's made me cry and go "AWWW!" _

_I recommend everyone watch RomeoXJuliet, even dudes because "It's so fluffeh!" _

_I know, I know, all the (U)nresolved (S)exual (T)ension is killing people. I just love messing with you guys._


	6. Chapter 5: To Know Why Hope Died

_**Chapter Five: To Know Why Hope Died**_

_**Author's Note:**_

_**Ms. Jareth: **__ I'm totally fine with you using the first two chapter ideas for your story, just write your own version and don't copy-paste mine, that's against the site rules anyway, just give me credit. I was gonna private message you, but you disabled that._

* * *

"_You remember our first kiss?" Terra asked._

"_Yeah, under the fireworks at that wedding," Garfield replied._

"_But you slept through the entire wedding," Terra scolded._

"_I marched for three days straight without a break, I couldn't help it."_

"_Gar, that was _Lord Malchior's _wedding,"_ _she looked at him._

"_Like I care who he married," Garfield shrugged._

"_You were lucky we were sitting in the back. Knowing you, you'll forget all about it," Terra looked out over the pond. _

"_So why did you bring me here?" Terra asked._

"_I have an important question to ask you," he told her._

"_Garfield what do you mean?" she asked._

"_What I mean is, Terra, will you marry me?"_

Garfield shifted in his bed, in the midst of a familiar dream. One of the happiest ones he had quite often.

Raven looked around. Lord Garfield was late. This wasn't normal for him. She found Victor.

"He's probably asleep, he always enjoys sleeping in," Victor said. "But I really wouldn't try to wake him if I were you."

She didn't hear his warning. Raven headed to her Master's chamber, completely prepared to give him a piece of her mind, as much as she could considering her social status anyway.

"Lord Garfield!" she called out. "Get up!"

There wasn't an answer. She opened the door and moved in quietly.

Lord Garfield was lying in bed asleep, scarcely wearing anything and barely covered in a blanket.

He stirred and the blanket fell off. Raven truly wondered if she could die from embarrassment.

_Oh Azar, strike me dead!_ She thought. He was naked, it was quite normal for men and women to sleep naked, but women didn't normally go wake men. They usually woke themselves.

Garfield was…her thoughts failed her at this point. She just watched him sleep, while trying very hard not to look at forbidden regions of his body that were only supposed be seen by a spouse, she'd heard stories that he'd been married once.

"She must have been lucky," she muttered. She wondered if it hurt when he fell out of Heaven, it had to be the only place he could have come from.*****

"I always knew there was something that women like about me," Garfield's voice cut through her thoughts.

"Something…" Raven frowned; she saw right through his entendre and wondered if he intended to pull her into that bed with him.

"You're blushing, it's not like you've never seen a naked man before," Garfield said, not knowing how wrong he was, well she had seen one, but not up close. He picked up the blanket from the floor and kept himself covered with it, but barely.

Her wedding night hadn't exactly gone very well, but that was something she didn't want to think about. Just let him think she had some experience and she'd be okay.

"You should get up now, I've been waiting for you," she said, still trying to act like this wasn't something she was uncomfortable with.

"Go outside and wait for me," he told her, he grabbed a shirt and his underclothes and pants. He wasn't really thinking about much of anything until after she had left.

_What was that all about?_ He wondered. She looked so embarrassed around him. Wait, the way she was acting it _was _as if she'd never seen a naked man before. But how did that happen? She'd been _married_ so it didn't make any sense.

"I can't think straight anymore," he groaned. He finished dressing and headed out to the room.

Raven felt utterly embarrassed. She should have at least acted like she wasn't uncomfortable around him. It's not like he had tried to sleep with her. She had seen a naked man before, but that was one of the most horrific experiences in her life…

* * *

_Raven walked toward her bedchamber. She hadn't seen her husband for awhile and she was worried._

_She opened the door and was completely mortified. There was Malchior, stark naked, with someone else. It shook her to her core. How could he do this to her? She was filled with rage and she did the first thing that came to her mind._

"_Azarath, Metrion, Zinthos!" she summoned her powers and used them to launch the nude wench out the window and into the garden._

"_Malchior! How could you do this? You're sleeping with someone else and you're married to me!" _

"_Raven, it was complete impulse, I've been…going to physicians for my…problem, and they've helped me recover. We can have children."_

"_Like I'd ever sleep with you again!" she seethed. "It was bad enough that you blamed me for your problems on our wedding night and we didn't even consummate our marriage properly, but now you're saying your little tryst with that girl was some kind of experiment. You sicken me."_

"_Then why did you marry me?" he asked._

"_You were different back then," she replied._

"_Raven, we can fix this," he insisted. "Please, Raven. Sleep with me."_

"_By Azar, I'll do no such thing, I'm leaving! If you want to come crawling back to me I'll be in Azarath with my mother," she stormed off._

"_Fine," he snarled. "You've made your choice, now I'll make mine. I don't even want you."_

Garfield frowned, absolutely puzzled. Raven's behavior had been very different than she usually was. She'd been so unnerved around him and it made him wonder what happened between her and Malchior. The man didn't even act like was married when he was alive. Then again, he didn't usually spend his time naked around a pretty girl. The more he thought about it, the more awkward he felt it actually was.

He made sure he was properly dressed and went out to where Raven was waiting. He might as well get his lessons over with.

_Raven quickly set up the candles in the proper formation and completed the circle. She was furious with Malchior. She hoped her mother Arella would be able to help her. Some time away from him would do her good. _

"_Azarath Metrion Zinthos...Carazon Rakashas Endere...Vaserix Endrien Azarath...Azarath, Azarath!"_

_Raven vanished from the castle. She wouldn't be seen for six months._

_It had been three months since Raven had left and Malchior had declared a grand feast. He had grown bored of his mistresses and used it as an excuse to find more maidens to bed. He invited his best knights; many of them had beautiful spouses. His for the taking._

"_Terra, you look stunning," Gar breathed at the sight of his wife in a gown that had cost him way too much money but it had been worth it._

"_Why thank you," she said, flattered as always._

"_You look even _more _stunning without it," he said slyly, raising an eyebrow._

"_Is making love to me all you think about? I swear I practically _live_ in my bed."_

"_No, I think about other things, like having a family, two children. But we need to have them first right?" he laughed. He kissed her soundly. _

"_They're waiting for us," Gar said. She nodded and followed him out._

_They arrived at Malchior's castle and Gar looked at his wife. _

"_Be careful," he warned her. "Don't ever be alone with His Majesty."_

"_Why is that?" Terra asked._

"_You've certainly heard of his reputation. I told you about what happened to Rorek."_

"_That he suddenly and conveniently died in battle and that the widow ended up in his bed. I know. Thanks for the reminder." Terra squeezed his hand. "Nothing bad is going to happen to you."_

_They headed inside. Malchior was watching them from a balcony._

"_Baran, who is that woman?" Malchior asked, the lust burning in his eyes. Raven had been gone for months, but he no longer cared._

_Baran was a hulking man who had latched himself onto Malchior, winning his favor by bringing him new wenches for him to seduce. He was rather ugly and he had the nickname "Mammoth"._

"_But what about Raven?" Baran asked. _

"_She is visiting her mother far away in Azarath, she won't ever know."_

"_It's not like she _doesn't _know about what you do," Baran said. "Aren't you going to try again?"_

"_I'm not even interested in her anymore," Malchior said. "So who is she?"_

"_That's Terra; she's married to Lord Garfield."_

"_I see, as for Raven, we, well I tried with her another time, it was after an argument we had, she didn't want to, not like she _could _anyway. Just see to it that you get Terra separated from her husband. Can you do that?"_

"_Yes, I can," he replied. It was what he did best._

_She was completely frustrated and confused. She had gotten lost just trying to find her way back to the dining hall. She had needed some fresh air after a little too much wine and had cleared her head._

_She had tried to go back but found that either doors were mysteriously locked or that hallways led to nowhere._

"_Are you lost, my lady?" a voice asked. Terra froze, trying to hide her horror. It was Malchior._

"_It…it appears so, yes," she managed. She knew all the stories but for him to come after _her_. She was unsure of what she was supposed to do. _

_If all else failed she was going to use her powers. She was _not _going to bed with him. She was quite happy with her life as it was. And knowing he would send her away as soon as he grew tired of her didn't help either. She wasn't full of delusions of grandeur. _

"_I can help you get back," he said very accommodatingly. She was chilled through and through. She needed to get away from him._

_He began leading her, but she knew right where they were _really _going. His bedchamber, she was trying to think of an excuse to get away. _

"_Here we are," he said, stopping at the door._

"_What do you really want, Lord Malchior?" she asked._

"_You, I want you, I can't take my eyes off you," Malchior replied, moving closer to her._

'_My husband says that too, and I'm _quite _happy with him," she was secretly concentrating, preparing to use her powers. She shut her eyes. Malchior moved closer to her and gripped her shoulders._

"_I could make you happy, he won't ever know," Malchior smirked. She was his, they always bought his lies. It was too easy._

"_You lay a hand on me and I'll proclaim your sick, twisted villainy to the entire kingdom!" She snarled. "Release me!"_

"_You won't leave, unless you leave in my arms."_

"_Never!" she said, her voice filled with utter contempt._

"_You little slutte, how dare you defy me!" he growled. _

_Suddenly the earth itself shifted upward, forming a spike that slammed right into his groin. He groaned in agony._

"_You deserved that! It's about time someone dealt a blow to your ego!" She said she ran out of there, she summoned her powers to but barriers between them. She kept moving. _

_He began stumbling after her but realized this was not a good situation. Better to let her go. Even if she did tell her husband, there was no way he could prove it. It would be her word against his._

_She finally spotted other guests and felt relief was over her. Terra moved through the hallway, back to the dining hall, barely restraining herself from running by guests. She didn't want them to think anything was wrong. Malchior knew he couldn't get to her, if he tried to stop her, the other guests might notice and realize that he was with someone else's wife. Not only would the church come down on him but if word got out that he was going after the wife of one of his best knights, it might cause them to revolt._

_Kori, Richard, Victor, and Garfield were all laughing and talking when they saw her enter. Garfield saw the terror in her eyes and moved quickly to her side._

"_Terra, what's wrong?" he asked._

_Terra pulled him into a searing kiss that startled everyone in the room. Gar went along with it; he knew something was very, very wrong._

"_Malchior tried to seduce me!" She managed to breathe into his ear. Garfield stiffened, but tried to retain his composure. Kori, who could read lips, barely hid her shock and told Victor and Richard, who moved protectively around her._

"_With me here!" Gar seethed. He gripped his wife against him. "I'm going to settle this right here, right now!__*****__"_

"_Let's just leave, Gar, I just want to get out of here!" Terra told him._

"_All right, we'll go, but this isn't over!" he then raised his voice loud enough so that he could be heard. "I have to leave, we're all tired and it's time we return home."_

"_Please tell his Majesty that we are sorry he's not here to see us off," Gar said, looking around. Where had that lech gone off to? He wanted to strangle him._

_They headed outside and made their way toward the front gate._

_Malchior stood on top of the castle roof with Baran at his side. _

"_Your Majesty, this isn't wise," Baran warned._

"_I want you to you kill him. Right here, right now," Malchior said. "It will be a horrific tragedy and I will be there to comfort his grieving widow, in more ways than one," he smirked._

"_I think I can hit him from here," Baran looked down at Gar, who wasn't wearing a helmet. He was behind Terra and they were walking away. Baran strung the arrow and fired. Suddenly, Terra stopped behind Gar._

"_Gar, there's something I want to tell—" she began. Terra felt the air being pushed out of her lungs and felt searing pain in her back. There was something dripping, and she realized it was her own blood. _

_She stumbled, nearly knocked off her feet, she toppled forward, Gar caught her. _

"_Kori! Kori! Help her!" the fear in his voice. He could see the arrow protruding out of her back. Where had it come from? He looked up and saw a man standing on the roof a horrified expression on his face. Baran. He should have known. Malchior was behind this. He had Terra shot because she wouldn't sleep with him. He was going to regret this. Gar would make sure of it._

"_Don't die Terra," he pleaded. "Please don't die!"_

"_Kori, can you get the arrow out!" Richard asked his wife._

"_I could but she has lost too much blood," Kori said. She had taken off her cloak to staunch the bleeding but there was nothing any of them could do. "I do not have the proper equipment to save her."_

"_Terra, you're going to be fine," Richard said._

"_We're going to get you help," Victor said, the tears streaming down his face. They had all been very close, and it felt as if his heart were being torn out of his chest._

"_Don't lie to me, Victor. I…I'm going to die here," Terra breathed raggedly. "Don't miss me too much. It'd make me…very sad…"_

"_Terra, you can't die! I _won't _let you die!" Garfield screamed as he took her in his arms. Her bright eyes were dimming. He _willed _her to hang on; he wasn't going to lose her like this!_

"_Garfield…my darling Gar, don't look so sad. My life…has been wonderful. I…I love you…so…so much. Don't…don't ever forget that. __I love you, Garfield. Always…"_

_The light left her eyes and she sagged in her arms._

"NO!"_ he screamed._

"_What happened?" Malchior asked, he had managed to make his way down the stairs and outside, expecting to see Terra holding a dying Garfield in her arms, not him alive and well with his dead wife in his arms! He tried to hide his anger at Baran's incompetence, but Richard, Kori, Victor, and especially Garfield saw right through his charade._

"_Is…she all right?" he asked, genuinely stunned._

"_She's dead, Your Majesty," Garfield spat out with disdain._

"_I will find the person responsible for this, I swear it!" he promised, it was a blatant lie._

"_You go do that, Sire," Gar said. Malchior turned and walked away._

_As soon as the gates shut behind him, Garfield turned to his friends._

"_I'm going to make him pay! I swear on Terra's life I'm going to make him pay! I won't stop until he and Baran are dead and their heads are on pikes!"_

* * *

"Raven?" he asked. "Are you all right?"

"I just…have a headache that's all."

"You've been having them a lot," Garfield told her. "Are you sure?"

"I'll be fine," she reassured him.

She taught him everything she could. They studied for hours. Garfield had never seen her like this before. Something was definitely wrong.

"You're hiding something from me, aren't you?" Gar asked.

"It doesn't matter, Master," Raven replied.

"Don't you want to talk about it?" he asked.

"No."

"All right. Keep your secrets. But it's not good for you."

Raven sighed, she couldn't ever tell him. It'd be too much. They all had their secrets…

"_All my searching is finally at an end!" Malchior exclaimed. "I will finally be able to create it. Using this entire Kingdom of Kravia, I will harness the power of the most feared magical artifact known to this world, and with it, I will put an end to Lord Garfield's insignificant insurrection!"_

"_Malchior, please don't do this!" Raven pleaded. "You'll destroy hundreds of thousands of lives, just to create something that may or may not help you destroy Lord Garfield!"_

"_He utterly humiliated me, and I'm going to make him pay! And what do you mean, lives? As if these people truly have lives," Malchior scoffed. "I will finish what I started—!" Malchior raised his hands to cast the spell._

"_Malchior STOP!" Raven screamed._

"—_I WILL create the Philosopher's Stone!" he concluded. "__Hezberek Et Morine__…__Gost Wenthen Verbis Nex… Ind Obr__ium Bis Pendrule… __Paran Sic Cortis Rex!__"_

_There was a flash of bright red light and Raven felt the earth shaking. She hit her knees and Malchior came over to her._

"_Don't worry my sweet Raven," Malchior said in a soothing voice that froze her entire being to the core. "We will be safe since we stand in the center of the circle."_

_Raven's mind reeled in agony, she could hear all the citizens screaming in agony through her empathic powers and it didn't stop for several minutes. She wandered outside, calling for anyone who was there. It was dead silent._

"_Where is everyone?" she called. "Willard? Mitchild? Reinmer? Toni? Mayo!" These were names of people she'd known, even for the short time she'd been there._

_Raven didn't hear any voices; all she saw were dead bodies._

"_Hello Raven," Malchior's voice called out to her. "See what I've created."_

"_What happened to all the people? Why did they die?" she demanded._

"_Don't you know? The ingredients for the Philosopher's Stone? Live humans and in mass numbers!" Malchior proclaimed, showing it to her. "It's why I started all the wars, it just made it even better when Lord Garfield started his little insurrection. I've known about this for some time. It just took him to help me finish it."_

"_What!" Raven sputtered. "You _couldn't_ have planned that."_

"_No, but I was running out of excuses to go to war, he just gave me another one."_

_Raven grasped her head and sank to her knees._

"_I can hear them, they're all screaming at me! Please take that thing and go!" Malchior left._

"_I've been waiting a long time for this. I'm going to use this Stone to destroy Lord Garfield and anyone else who gets in my way."_

_Victor had received the most horrifying news he had ever heard in his short life. The Kingdom of Kravia had been destroyed. It had been a neutral country in the war and had virtually been ignored by both sides as it had no real strategic value. Upon receiving the message, he rode straight to their camp._

"_Lord Garfield," Victor shouted. "I have received horrible news! All the citizens of the kingdom of Kravia have vanished, disappeared overnight, we can't even find the cities anymore!"_

"_Didn't Malchior just conquer that place?" Garfield asked. It sickened him that Malchior had declared war on the neutral country. Places didn't just disappear overnight._

"_It's impossible!" Gar said. "Are you sure?"_

"_Yes," Victor told him._

"_Whatever he did it was pretty bad; we have to prepare for the worst."_

_They started getting ready. This was probably going to be their last battle, but if they were going to die, they would go out in a blaze of glory._

She had finished his lessons. "I need to be alone."

"I understand. He had duties to attend to. She left to go to meditate.

Garfield made his way to the apothecary; Kori had told him there was something that she wanted to tell him.

"Hello Kori," he greeted her with a smile. "What was it you wanted to tell me?"

"Greetings, Garfield," she smiled. As the youngest Princess of the Kingdom of Tamaran, she always spoke formally, even though she no longer lived there. She had grown to love the adventurous life they lived and did not wish to return home.

"Do you remember the night Terra died?" Kori asked.

"Yes, I'll never forget it," he replied. "Why do you ask?"

"There was something she wanted to tell you, but she wasn't able to," Kori said. "Do you have any knowledge of what it was?"

"No," he replied. He had a bad feeling about where this was going.

"Garfield, she was pregnant, she wanted to tell you."

"What?" Gar stared. It didn't shock him that it had happened, they had always been passionate in their relationship, but for her to be pregnant and he _not_ notice is what tore him apart.

"I am sorry I did not tell you sooner, it would have been too much for you," Kori put her hand on his shoulder.

"Did Victor and Richard know?"

"No they did not, just me," Kori looked very sorrowful. "I apologize."

"Don't you're right, I wouldn't have been able to handle it back then, thank you Kori. Don't feel bad about it." He turned and left.

Garfield numbly made his way back to the training grounds. He found a sword and chopped a stuffed target to shreds.

"_You bastard!" _he screamed. "I hate you! I want to find a way to resurrect you, just so I can kill you again!" He hacked another target until it was noting more than a few shredded remnants.

He was too exhausted to move, he couldn't take it anymore. He broke down and wept.

Raven sat by the pond, meditating quietly, her voice the only thing that could be heard.

"Azarath, Metrion, Zinthos…" she chanted.

Her skull about split with a terrible headache.

"Please, please just stop! She pleaded to the air. They were all screaming at her.

She opened her eyes and removed the chakra that was on her forehead. She held it in her hand.

"It's not my fault you all…died…" she whispered. "I couldn't stop him. I'm so sorry."

But that did her little good. It was hard to apologize to 536,329 human souls and feel better about it.

Was it so hard to believe that her chakra was actually Malchior's Philosopher's Stone?

_**Author's Notes: **_

_If I made you cry then I did a good job._

_I know, I know, the Philosopher's Stone is popping up everywhere, but I LOVE, _LOVE_ Fullmetal Alchemist. Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood along with the original manga is ending in two months, which is probably when I'll get this fic done. But in the Slayers universe they have the Philosopher's Stone and it amplifies magic, so that's where I stole the idea from, but I like the idea from Fullmetal Alchemist that the Philosopher's Stone is made from human souls. So I fused both ideas._

_*****__Some creepy dude kept trying to flirt with my sister-in-law. Not a good idea, my brother's in the army, HE HAS GUNS AND KNOWS HOW TO USE THEM, he can also beat the crap out of you. Heck, my sister-in-law knows how to shoot them too! She told him and he was MAD. He found this guy and threatened to beat said crap out of him, add a few angry F-bombs and that guy's is staying for, FAR away from my sister-in-law. His army friends wanted to help too, but he wanted to do it himself._

_*****__There's a funny story about how one of Vic Mignogna's, the voice actor for Edward Elric fans wanted to ask him if it hurt when he fell out of Heaven._


	7. Chapter 6: Losing What Was Found

**Chapter Six: Losing what was Found**

_**Author's Note: **__My day has been made. Todd Haberkorn will be playing Ling in Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood! I always imagined his voice when I watched the Japanese version. Now my wish comes true! And Aaron Dismuke, who played sweet and adorable Alphonse Elric, is playing Young Hoehenheim! My day can't get any better, except for one thing:_

_I-NO-SPEAK-YOUR-LANGUAGE DANCE!_

_Thanks for all the nice reviews and some criticisms; although I think my shoutouts to Fullmetal Alchemist are NOT lame. And the story's not even the same so it's not lame._

_Also, writing this kind of fic is HARD. I have had to do a bunch of research so if you think you can just write about shiny knights in armor and call it a medieval fic; it's a lot harder than it looks. I've had to look up things on marriage, sex, clothing, diet, medical practice and Catholicism. It's not easy, but it's worth it. Enjoy. _

_

* * *

_

Raven had been in the castle for an entire year and noticed that the citizen's elation at having a new king had worn off somewhat.

Raven found a strange note in her bedchamber, it said:

_Come down to the tunnel underneath the west entrance tonight. We have business to discuss. Dr. Arthur._

Raven remembered Dr. Arthur. He was a rival healer and disliked Kori's methods. He relied on superstition and was sometimes called Dr. Light because he believed his cures came from the divine light of God. Raven just thought he was delusional.

Raven had received further instructions about where the secret tunnel was. She made her way down and saw a group of twenty knights. Among them was Dr. Arthur and Adonis. Raven visibly stiffened at the sight of him.

"There's no need to worry Raven," Arthur said. "We are not here to do you any harm. We wish to discuss something important with you."

This country has gone through a lot hardship over these last few years. Both citizens and soldiers alike have died because of Lord Garfield's war and now we suspect he's going to enact cruel taxes on us in order to pay for all our losses in the war. Thousands of good men died and there's no one to take care of them or their families."

"Why should I give a krape about all of _you_ when _I'm_ the one who has gone through so much pain?" Raven demanded.

"Life is pain, Raven!" Adonis' tone was curt. "Anyone telling you otherwise is selling something."

"This coming from the man who enjoyed torturing me," Raven snapped.

"Calm down you two," Arthur warned. "If you will lead us, you can fix this country."

Raven contemplated Arthur's proposal. Taking down Lord Garfield would not be easy. But wasn't that what she wanted? Revenge for everything she lost? She was unsure, but then she realized how meaningless it all was. Everyone was trying to rule the country. They were all tempted by the power Garfield held. They all thought they could do better than he did. Catering to the citizens with a normal tax rate and giving them plenty of feasts and jousts and diversions had made him very well liked by the citizens, but not the nobles who had been accustomed to being exuberantly wealthy with cruel taxes on the serfs and peasants.

All the country's wealth now came from exports, which the nobles weren't use to receiving income through things that their servants made and they disliked it that he had made it mandatory for all the nobles to earn their money this way.

Raven sighed. It was all flattery and empty promises. They just wanted her to be their figurehead. No doubt when this was over she would be mistreated again. Unfortunately, she was used to empty promises.

_She had returned, after six months. She'd been angry for so long, finally her wrath had abated. He promised her that if she calmed down, he'd be able to explain things. _

_Malchior had been confident. He knew exactly what to say, that he was sorry about what had happened between them. That he wanted to have children with her. His honeyed tongue worked its magic and Raven was actually hopeful that he was sincere._

"_What about all those other women?" she demanded._

"_They were slaves, it's not adultery if they're slaves__*****__," he said. This was of course, a lie and everyone, including Raven knew it, still, she wanted to believe that even he could change._

"_Just because they don't say it is wrong doesn't mean it's not," Raven retorted._

"_Raven, I am not that man anymore, I want you. I've always wanted you. Please come home."_

_After a long time thinking about it, she decided to return home._

_Raven was sitting on her bed and looked up from her reading as Malchior entered the room, he moved close to her; she set down the Galleon Scrolls and asked, "Malchior? What are you doing—?"_

_Malchior pressed his mouth to hers roughly, his weight felt heavy against her. His hands callously ran across her skin and he began groping her; her body began reciprocating, and she began breathing heavily._

_Raven's mind was spinning and she could barely think._

"_Malchior, please!" she whispered in his ear._

"_Not yet, sweet Raven," he replied. His smile was veiled cruelty; his eyes barley concealed his malice. He _enjoyed _toying with her. To see her so needy and vulnerable, hearing her beg brought him more pleasure than even the act of sex with her, which he actually dreaded. She wouldn't bring him any joy; he had no real desire or love for her whatsoever._

"_When I return victorious, when all this is over...then I'll make love to you," he reassured her. "There's no time now. I have to rest. I have to set out to stop Lord Garfield tomorrow."_

"_Malchior, promise me," Raven said, dejected that he wouldn't actually consummate their marriage, again._

"_I promise," he told her. He let her go, disrobed until he was nude and decided to climb in bed beside her; he needed to rest after all. Raven couldn't look at him, it was too much to think of how he was torturing her.  
_

"_And Raven," he looked her straight in the eye._

"_Yes?" she asked him quizzically._

"_I love you," he rolled over and fell asleep. That was the last thing he ever said to her._

_Several weeks later, Malchior stared at his reflection and sighed. He hoped this conflict with Lord Garfield would end quickly so he could return home. He realized that he would lose Raven if he didn't _try _to change. His dilemma, he liked his lifestyle the way it was, and he found it hard to believe that someone could be faithful and satisfied with one person. But still, he had to try._

"_Why does he have to seem so perfect?" Malchior asked himself. "It's as if he can't do anything wrong. It makes me sick." _

_He sighed. His thoughts turned back to Raven. For so long, he'd chased other women. He had tried to convince himself that he didn't need her. But this whole ordeal with Garfield had shown him that _maybe_; just maybe he could have a happy life with her. Hadn't Garfield and Terra been happily married? At least, that's what he remembered her saying._

_At first, he'd been confident of victory because of the Philosopher's Stone, but someone had stolen it from him. He had never been able to recover it. Not only was it an enormous blow to his ego but it made him realize that he'd actually have to rely on himself this time and he'd have to face what he created._

_Still, he was confident he was going to win. He wanted everything, Raven, his kingdom. He wasn't going to let some vengeance bent peasant take all of it from him. After Garfield was dead, he'd try to make everything work out. He stared at his reflection for a moment. He had always prided himself on keeping his emotions out of things, but maybe he _did_ have some real feelings for Raven after all…he scoffed at this after a moment. He was only stringing her along. He only wanted her power, and when he figured out how to get it, he'd get rid of her. He just had to get through Lord Garfield first…_

_

* * *

_

Raven stared at the twenty men in front of her. They all looked to her expectantly.

"I can't. I won't do this," she replied. "There's been enough bloodshed already. As much as I hate him, I won't start another war."

"Are you sure you've made up your mind?" Arthur asked, his eyes narrowing.

"Yes, I'm sure, who would want to follow me anyway? They all hate me," Raven stated.

"That's very true," Adonis said darkly. "It's a pity you're refusing because now we'll have to kill you. We can't have you telling him, after all."

Raven moved away from them. She knew she didn't have a choice, she had to use her powers.

"Azarath, Metrion, Zinthos!" she chanted, summoning them. She tossed knights against the wall and sent others flying. She tried to grab a loose sword from a guard but Adonis kicked her in the stomach. They began ruthlessly kicking her until her face bled.

Suddenly, they stopped and looked around. They looked around and saw the secret door open. In stepped Garfield, looking eerily calm and standing at ease.

"What's going on here?" he asked. "And why is Raven's face bloody?"

"Well, Your Majesty, you've been working so hard lately, we thought you should take a permanent break from your duties."

"Ah, but therein lies the problem," Gar said, still acting casual. "I rather _like _my job."

"Well "Your Majesty", why don't you just retire!" the man said as he brandished a sword. He unexpectedly felt pain in his left hand, only to look up and realize it was gone!

Gar swung his sword quickly, taking off the knight's hand, blood spurted everywhere. He quickly kicked him across the chest and sent him flying into a wall. Raven stared in awe; she hadn't even seen him unsheathe his sword!

Another knight rushed at him, Garfield stepped aside and struck him across the back.

"Don't worry, I struck you with the back side," Gar then examined the blade. "Oh sorry, this is a double-edged sword." His mistake.

Gar turned his attention to Raven, who had received a vicious punch to the stomach and and face and was trying to catch her breath.

"I'm going to protect you," he promised. "I won't let them kill you." Gar brandished his sword.

"Now, come at me, you cowards!" he challenged.

He kept his hands on the sword hilt, thrusting and cutting at anyone who came near him. He jabbed his blade between chinks in the armor and wounded several of them.

"How can you possibly hurt us!" Arthur demanded.

"I _built_ the armor you're wearing!" Garfield growled. "I know where _all_ the weaknesses are!"

The men were all mortified, when their Lord had said he was having custom armor made for them, they didn't actually think _he_ would do it himself.

"Do you want to know why?" Gar asked. "Well I'll explain it to you, and I'll use small words so you can understand you pig-faced buffoons."

"When Richard, Victor and I all snuck into Malchior's castle, we all knocked out some guards on the outside and took their armor. We also wore their helmets, which is why you're all required to take them off before you come in and as for why the armor is custom, none of you can pull off any coups or assassination plots. The best part is, everyone knows about these so-called "Secret tunnels". So as you can see, there a_re _no secrets."

They were all stunned. Their moron of a king had outmaneuvered them.

'What can I say? I obfuscate stupidity, it works every time!" he attacked them.

He slashed downward and blocked a hard strike toward his abdomen. He skittered out of the way of a blow aimed at his chest. He grasped a shield and used it to block blows, only to find that his sword arm was tiring.

The knights rallied, noticing he was tired; the sword was soon knocked away from his hand.

"We've disarmed him!" they said, confident of triumph.

Garfield suddenly swung around and hurled the shield like a discus, hitting a knight in the head. He sprang forward and pulled one of the knight's sword from its scabbard. He thrust the blade through the man's neck; he fell to the ground, dead.

Arthur was furious. "Kill them! Kill them both!"

Gar moved between Raven and the other men, there were at least ten of them. He suddenly handed her the broadsword.

"What are you doing?" she asked.

"Just watch, and if they get past me, defend yourself," he ordered.

Garfield unsheathed two short swords and held them in each hand. She saw him move, but it was so fast it wasn't like he had even been where he had just been standing.

One of the knight's fell dead, with his body separated at the hips, between where the breastplate and the leg armor began. Another attacker swung his sword and Gar simply turned and calmly sliced his head open at the eyes. He dropped dead instantly.

"How did I _survive _a fight with him?" she asked herself. "He's completely merciless and ruthless."

Then she remembered something she had observed before they fought. Gar had been exhausted. Raven couldn't believe how _strong_ he was, she didn't even want to think about what happened if he turned his brute strength on _her_.

"I'll cut your soul from its moorings!" Gar said darkly.

"Come and try then!" Arthur challenged.

"Do you know how I distinguished myself on the battlefield time after time?" Gar asked Arthur. "I may be strong but I tend to wear out and use up a lot of energy quickly. I may not be very smart but I do watch people. I notice how they move, how they react to what I do, and I always notice when they get cocky!"

Gar was constantly on his feet, swinging and slashing; he chased Arthur around the small room.

Arthur swung high when Gar ducked and thrust his swords behind him and into his enemy's midsection. Arthur dropped dead.

"Now you just stay down there," he said.

Adonis charged at him and in one swift motion, Gar cut off both his arms, at the elbows. He fell screaming. Gar quickly slashed him across the back and turned his attention to Raven.

He finished off the guard he had hit in the head and looked over at her. She returned his gaze, unnerved by his display of combat prowess.

"Are you all right?" he asked, concerned.

"Let's get you to Kori," he said. "She'll apply ointment to your face."

"Are you hurt Master?" she asked.

"No, why did you side with me?" he asked, curious.

"Because I want all of this to end, I don't want another war."

"Neither do I," he said sincerely.

Raven felt confused. Was he the monster she'd imagined him to be or was he deceiving her like he had deceived all the knights who had conspired against him. She wasn't sure what to believe anymore.

But then she remembered why she hated him, and she didn't know what she was supposed to feel or think when it came to the man who was her Master, Lord Garfield…

* * *

_Raven stared at the messenger. "Malchior…is dead?"_

_"Yes, my Lady, he told me that you would avenge him and defend this castle."_

_"When will he arrive?" she asked._

_"Tomorrow," he replied._

_Raven felt stunned. How could this happen? Right when they were going to try to make their marriage work. Sure, it had been very hard on her and the fact that Malchior had never tried to be faithful to her and it broke her heart. But he'd promised that once this was over, he'd try to be a better person. That he would actually love her and care about her. That's what she had wanted from him for so long, and now, when he had finally decided to change his ways, he had been murdered._

_Lord Garfield. She wondered why he had started this war. In a strange way, it had brought Malchior back to her but then it had instantly torn him away from her forever._

_It wasn't fair. What were his motivations for doing this? She'd never been able to learn what they were from Malchior. He had never spoken to her about why this had happened. _

_He had to be a power-hungry soldier, bent on conquest. Just one of Malchior's many followers who had grown envious of the power that he had. It was probably someone who was politically ambitious, that was the only reason. Garfield was just a monster, barely concealed under a knight's shining armor._

_She was going to face this monster, and kill him. _

Adonis stumbled into a ruined house in the village of Nol. It had been Raven's house until she had married Malchior. He had barely survived the failed coup. Lord Garfield had killed all but him, although he had been severely wounded, he was too occupied by the safety of the witch Raven to notice that he was still alive.

He had escaped and traveled for days until he had arrived in Nol. Someone had found him and bandaged the stumps of his arms and he had been taken to the outskirts of Nol. He had found the old house and tried to recover there.

"Curse him!" he raged at the clouds. "Curse both of them. I had hoped Lord Gar would promote me to a position of power, but he had to fall under that witches spell and spare her accursed life. I'm going to make them both suffer, and make them wish they had never crossed me!"

"_I can help you do that," _a voice whispered in his head. He couldn't believe it, how was _he_ still alive?

"You piece of scum! Why should I listen to you, Malchior?" Adonis demanded to the air.

"_I can give you power, I always knew that someone might try to kill me, and so I transplanted my soul into one of sweet Raven's magic books. She doesn't know of course."_

"If I help you, you'll grant me your power?" Adonis asked.

"_Perhaps, if you can find me a suitable vessel and help me escape this book."_

"Don't you know how to release yourself?" Adonis asked.

"_I do not have the power yet," Malchior replied. "Lord Garfield, cut off your arms didn't he?"_

"Yes!" Adonis hissed.

"_I will send my trusted ally Mikron to you; he will help you with what you will need to successfully resurrect me."_

"How long will this take?" Adonis demanded.

"_One year," Malchior replied. "I promise you, if you make a deal with me, I will give you what you deserve."_

"What is this deal?" Adonis demanded. He didn't want to be tricked into doing something that would get him killed.

"_Attach my arms to your body, and you'll get a great reward," Malchior said. "I will teach you all my magic and then I will return more powerful than ever."_

"Maybe I should have sided with you in the war," Adonis said. He would do it; he didn't care what it took. He was going to make Lord Garfield, and especially Raven pay for what they did to him.

_**Author's Notes:**_

_*** **__They really did believe that if you had sex with a slave it was okay and not adultery because they were technically property and not people._

_I've really lost my mind. Now I'm throwing Slayers references in here too, and more Princess Bride to boot!_

_I hated, absolutely _hated _writing that scene with Raven and Maldouche it doesn't help I already think he's a perv 'cause he used the sexual predator technique in the actual show to get her to release him, but he's just downright creepy. _

_I've also got a real sword. It was a going away present from my best friend. I didn't really think about using it for this fic until I remembered that I need to be realistic about fighting. Thanks Jenna._

_Special thanks to DarkRapture for conspiracy theory ideas. Couldn't pull this off without you!_


	8. Chapter 7: A World So Hollow

**Chapter Seven: A World So Hollow**

_**Author's Notes:**__ Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood made me cry Thursday. It was awesome yet sad. __And the Deviation is tonight, manga storyline time! Th__is chapter was a pain in the butt to write, because it's heavy flashback time.  
_

_

* * *

_

"_This is your brilliant strategy?" Richard asked. "You want to sacrifice 6,000 of our troops for this "plan" and we're going to lose on_ purpose_?_"

""_I don't care what it takes, I'm going to win, but I'm going to humiliate him, utterly embarrass him, so badly he'll never be able to publicly admit it was me."_

"_I don't get how getting 6,000 of our troops killed is going to help us win," Richard said._

"_I don't approve, we didn't ask these people to join us just so they could die," Victor agreed._

"_All's fair in war," Gar said, narrowing his eyes. "He's going to pay by my rules."_

_He began his lengthy explanation. "Malchior has always been overconfident. We've all seen it when we campaigned with him. If we let him think that our main motivation is to overthrow him through brute force, he'll send a large army out after us. We'll lose, several battles, I'm afraid, and while that's going on. I will go to the castle, and offer to help him track down Absalom. I'll gain his trust and then I'll reveal how I orchestrated the entire thing. _

"_And why am I going to be a major part of your scheme?" Richard asked._

"_I need you, you're well educated and you can teach me all I need to know about being a member of the nobility. I need to look and act like you to pull it off."_

"_Acting like me, you could pull off, but looking like me is another story, you're shorter than I am," Richard noted._

"_Victor's smart, he can invent something to make me taller," Gar insisted._

"_What about your hair?" Richard asked._

"_Kori will figure out something," Gar said, it made perfect sense._

"_I feel like we're doing all the work," Richard sighed._

"_We won't let you sacrifice our troops on purpose," Victor said. "You use this tactic and _we'll_ revolt._

"_Fine, I'll try to keep the losses to a minimal and feign retreats." _

"_For all our losses in this scheme, you have to provide for all the families," Richard warned him sternly._

"_I understand," he said. "Their sacrifice won't be in vain. I'll make sure all the families will have food and water. I'm not going to treat my people like animals."_

"_I still don't understand your ultimate goal here," Victor said._

"_I want to utterly and completely humiliate him. He thinks _he_ can control everything. I want to show him that he is completely incompetent and that he is no longer fit to lead this country. Perhaps I'll reveal myself when he's a sleep in bed; it's where he's most vulnerable. He thinks no one can touch him."_

"_Then what will you do?" Victor asked._

"_I'm going to kill him," Gar replied._

"_In his bed? That's pretty low," Richard commented._

"_Oh no, I'm not going to kill him there, he'll have to fight me like a real man first. On a battlefield like all his pawns."_

"_We will help you, but should you slip up even once, we'll cut you down!" Richard warned._

"_I can only expect that from my closest friends, you may stab me in the back should I ever become what _he _is." Garfield watched Victor leave the room._

"_Life's not really fair is it?" Garfield asked as he sighed and sat down. "I feel like I'm in a twisted romance and revenge story."_

"_If you were, you'd probably end up falling for the wife of the guy you killed," Richard quipped. Garfield choked and started coughing._

"_Who would write something like that?" he asked._

"_A hopeless romantic with a knack for liking this sort of thing," Richard laughed._

"_If that's true then I want out of it," Gar ran his fingers through his hair. "Like Malchior's the type to even _have _a wife."_

"_We should get started on your lessons," Richard told him. "You have to act like a very noble knight after all."_

"_I thought I _was," _Gar said._

"_I know, but you have to act like you don't give a krape about people," Richard said, "But you also have to act like you come from a noble family. There's also one more thing you'll have to do, and you're not going to like it._

"_What's that?" Gar asked._

"_Eat meat," Richard replied._

"_I _don't_ eat meat!" Gar protested._

"_You have to, if they notice you don't eat meat they'll get suspicious. You'll just have to put up with it."_

"_All right," Gar nodded. Richard began to teach him everything he knew._

* * *

Lord Garfield sighed as he stared at his reflection in the clear glass mirror. Victor had brought it from his native Moorish country and had given it to him as a present.

"What am I going to do?" he asked himself. His feelings were jumbled and he was confused. Logically, falling in love with Raven was definitely not a good idea. Maybe if they had known each other before, and something had happened where, he had been thrown in prison and she had ended up married Malchior, but still had feelings for him, but his situation was like that at all. He had murdered her husband out of revenge and that wasn't a good relationship starter.

Richard walked in.

"You're thinking about Raven again," he stated, he didn't ask because he knew the answer.

"I can't stop thinking about her, I fell in love with her a long time ago," Garfield said. "God must be punishing me."

"I don't know about that, but this isn't a good move politically, you know," Richard observed.

"I don't care about politics, I care about her," Gar said.

"You should care about politics, you are king after all," Richard reprimanded.

"I know, you don't have to tell me that, it's just, this doesn't seem right. I murdered her husband. I wanted revenge, and to say I love her is an insult to Terra."

"What Terra would think of her is irrelevant since she's dead, but still, I am wary of you getting in a relationship with her. For your sake."

"But you're friends with her too," Garfield pointed out.

"Yes, but I'm not the king, and I have no romantic feelings for her," Richard added.

"You have a point there," Garfield agreed.

"And what about her emotions? She doesn't know about Terra yet. You have to tell her, she thinks you're in this for the power, the wealth, the glory and the women. If you start to pursue her, this isn't courtly love, where she's still married but you've fallen for her*****, she'll think you did this just to get her."

"I'm not that petty, I really do love her," Gar said. "I would _never_ have done that even if I had fallen for her while Malchior was alive. That was probably his excuse for what _he_ did."

"She probably won't see it that way." Richard folded his arms. "Raven will think that you just can't keep your pants on."

"You have my permission to castrate me should that ever happen."

"Good, at least I know you won't act lascivious around her," Richard said.

"Well maybe," Gar said slyly. Richard gave him an ugly look.

"I'm jesting," he said.

"That's not amusing," Richard reprimanded. "Is this what you wanted to talk to me about?"

"Yes," he replied.

"What did Victor say?" Richard asked.

"I told him that I didn't care," Victor's voice called. "Raven's a good woman. I see her as family already."

"I figured. You are very accepting of other people," Richard smiled. "Me, I accept her too, she's not evil despite whatever they say, but politics, they get in the way of everything."

"That's true, but shouldn't I tell her how I feel?" he asked.

"She may not be ready for it, she's been your servant for a year but she still doesn't trust you," Victor said. "Your relationship with her is very complicated."

"I'll tell her when the time is right, I'm sure," Gar sighed. "Thanks for all the advice."

He turned and left. Richard and Victor looked at each other.

"Let's just hope this ends well," Victor said.

"I agree," Richard said. They turned and left. Everything involving Garfield and Raven was very, very complicated.

* * *

"_Hello, My Liege," a voice greeted him. "I've heard you are searching for the man they call Absalom."_

"_How would you know a thing like that?" Malchior demanded._

"_I am Absalom," the voice said behind him. Malchior stiffened. _

What do I do?_ He thought. _ I have my sword. I could gut him right here and now. But what if it's not really him? What if I kill the wrong person? What will I do if I kill him and he's a stand in for the real one?

_Gar hid his satisfaction. _You can't touch me, you have no idea if I'm lying or not. You don't want to stain your so-called honor by murdering the wrong man, like you did to Terra.

"_If you are really him, you have a lot of nerve coming before me," Malchior said, keeping his voice civil._

"_Perhaps I said that just to test you, in truth I could be him, but you would never know for sure. Even if I'm not, I have my own interests in finding him," Gar said._

Curse him! He's trying to get me riled up. I'm not going to give him that satisfaction. I just wish I could confirm his identity and kill him.

"_If you were him, you think I'd try to get you to say something only he would know," Malchior said._

"_Of course, but if you want to find him, you'll have to think like him," Gar said._

"_Who are you really?" Malchior demanded._

"_My name is Janus," he replied._

"_Well, Janus, whether you are Absalom or not, it doesn't matter, eventually, I'll find him and kill him."_

_A few days later, a man arrived at the castle. _

"_I have a message for King Malchior," he said._

"_What is it? The gatekeeper asked._

"_Tell your Master that Absalom has declared war on our so-called, self-proclaimed king. He has disobeyed the laws of the church and God and his people. He has oppressed his serfs and peasants long enough and we will not tolerate it any longer. He has stolen our wives, our land, and our livelihoods. I will cast you down and replace you as king! A king is to be for the people, and there _is _no king without his people!"_

"_Shoot him now!" Malchior ordered, he had been standing with Janus at his side. They had watched without saying a word._

_The archers fired and Absalom used his shield to block the arrows, he retreated and mounted his horse, riding away from the gate._

"_Lord Baran, assemble your troops, wipe this pathetic bloodstain off the face of the earth!" Malchior seethed._

_

* * *

_

Raven was once again in the apothecary, Kori looked up in surprise.

"You always seem to injure yourself, do you not?" she asked in an amused voice.

"I'll try not to make a habit of it," she said in a dry voice.

"I heard Lord Garfield protected you," Kori said.

"How did you meet him?" Raven asked curious.

"One day, the Kingdom of Tamaran was attacked by the Kingdom of Gordania. They captured me and intended to make me a slave, but I escaped. I was fleeing from them when Sir Richard found me. We met Sir Victor and Sir Garfield and Terra while we were trying to escape away from Gordania's borders."

"Who is Terra?" Raven asked, she kept hearing that name, even the peasants talked about her. She seemed to be very important, and yet she had not seen anyone who was called by that name or referred to herself by that name. It was puzzling.

"Terra was Lord Garfield's wife," Kori replied.

Raven was taken aback. She'd seen no one with Garfield ever since she'd arrived. But she remembered the toast the soldiers had drank to her at the feast.

"She's dead isn't she?" Raven said. It seemed sad.

"Yes," Kori said. "It is still hard for me to speak about it. Even after seven years."

"How come Lord Garfield never speaks of her, to me or anyone else?" Raven asked. Surely he could tell her that he had been married once.

"I suppose because he does not like to think about it, and he is very busy," Kori said.

"I think it's rather strange that he won't even talk about her," Raven said.

"You do know he has feelings for you, or have you not noticed?" she asked. Everyone else could see it but either they refused to believe it or they ignored it.

"He has _feelings _for me!" she scoffed. "They all say that, Malchior was the same way. They don't actually mean what they say and will promise a girl anything if she'll go to bed with them."

Nothing anyone said about Lord Garfield would change her mind about him. She wasn't about to believe that he'd done all these good things just to be merciful to her. There was always another motive and she wasn't about to start falling for him. Not by a long shot.

Still part of her wanted to believe that Lord Garfield was really a good man, despite what he had done to her. She'd seen how he strived to help the peasantry, how he'd lowered taxes and made their lives easier.

Part of her admired him for that. She continually fought her physical attraction to him. He was certainly a handsome fellow and completely understood how he had ended up being married. If she were anyone else, she probably would have fallen for him.

She could never imagine falling in love with him, but a civilized friendship seemed good enough for her. There was no way she was going to forgive him for murdering Malchior and she was grateful he had spared her life. She left the apothecary, trying to sort through her jumbled thoughts.

* * *

"_Victor, this is bad!" Gar exclaimed. His men were being torn apart like animals. He had trained them well, but Malchior's ruthless advisor Lord Baran had filled his men with insatiable bloodlust._

_They put up a brave fight, perhaps the finest battle they'd ever fought, but they were no match for Lord Baran's crazed men._

_They were running, running for their lives. Garfield watched as a young teen was ruthlessly decapitated. _

"_Attack them and do not let them escape!" Lord Baran ordered. Lord Garfield's men were fleeing. This was no feigned route; they had lost a lot of men. _

_Garfield called for a retreat, they were all bruised, battered and bloody. They managed to retreat and Lord Baran stopped pursuing them. No doubt Lord Malchior would be thrilled and call for a feast._

_It was winter, almost everyone had frostbite, Kori was managing to keep men from losing fingers and toes, but barely._

"_Garfield, this plan isn't working, they really defeated us," Victor said. "Morale is low and it's worse because the soldiers are starting to get sick."_

"_Kori's working hard, I didn't think they'd actually gain the upper hand on us," Gar sighed. "I'm _not_ going to let this happen again."_

"_Maybe we should hire some __Berserkers__," Victor suggested. _

"_You mean those warriors who fight while in a trance and wear bear skirts*?" Garfield. They were legendary, for being insane on the battlefield._

_Garfield shook his head. "We just need to try harder next time. Wasn't there a story Richard told me where someone won a battle by pretending to route and luring the enemy army to their doom by surrounding them?"_

"_Yes, but I don't remember which battle that was," Victor said. _

"_That's our plan, and we're going to win," Garfield nodded. _

_A few days later, he debriefed his knights._

"_Your task is simple," he told his men. "Let Lord Baran think he is winning and retreat, when he has chased our men further into the valley, bring your men around and surround his army, then he won't be able to escape. I want him alive; I'm going to make an example of him."_

_The battle lasted for a week. Garfield's men were fueled by rage. They were sick of what Malchior did to this country and once they had heard their leader's personal story about what Malchior had done to his wife, they were more determined than ever to bring down the tyrannical king._

_The battle had been a success; they had feigned the route and had escaped with minimal losses, while decimating Lord Baran's army. They spread the rumor that they had lost and it quickly reached Malchior's ears that Lord Baran had been victorious._

_Garfield was in his tent when he received word that Victor had returned._

"_Lord Garfield, we captured someone of great interest to you," Victor said, helping Adonis drag him in._

"_Lord Baran," Garfield said with a small derisive laugh. "I hoped I would find you. Victor, you can go now."_

"_All right," Victor replied. Whatever Gar was going to do, he didn't want him to know about. _

"_Do you follow all your King's orders?" Garfield asked._

"_Yes," Baran replied._

"_Including the order he gave you to shoot me when I left his feast six years ago?" Gar hoped he would give him the answer that he wanted to hear._

"_Yes," Baran replied. "Adonis, tie him to the rack. I'm going to punish him myself!"_

"_I'll be happy out your orders Lord Garfield," Adonis offered. This was his job after all._

"_No, this is personal," Gar said. Adonis strapped Lord Baran to the rack, on his stomach._

_Gar found a knife and looked at it. His eyes burned with insatiable rage, anger and hatred. _

"_You've heard of the blood eagle__*****__, haven't you? It's a technique used by the Vikings where a victim's back is cut open and their ribs are pulled through their back, along with their lungs being pulled over their ribcage. It's excruciatingly painful and you can die from it, but right before you do, I'm going to put salt in your wounds. I suppose it's a small comfort since you know what's coming!"_

_He stuck the knife in Baran's back and slowly began cutting. The screams of his wife's killer was worth learning about the morbid technique. He had a plan for Lord Baran and it was going to be a sweet, sweet revenge._

_

* * *

_

"_What has become of Lord Baran?" Malchior asked, concerned for his favorite advisor. _

_"We do not know, but we will continue searching for him," the men said._

_It had been a week since Malchior's apparent victory and Raven was meditating in the courtyard._

"_Azarath, Metrion, Zinthos," Raven chanted. "Azarath, Metrion, Zinthos..." Raven stopped. Something landed on her face. _

_She reached up and touched her cheek, wiping the sticky substance off. _

_She gasped. There was blood on her fingers. _

_Raven looked up and let out a horrified shriek. There was a headless body, bloody and battered beyond recognition, fastened on the ceiling, it's back to her She could see the man's ribs sticking though his spine, covered in blood._

_She ran from the room and told the servants to inform Malchior. He came running to the spot and looked up._

"_Is that…Lord Baran?" he asked Janus._

_Janus stared at him, "it seems you found him, my friend."_

_Janus gazed over at the wall. "What is this?" _

_He handed Malchior an arrow with a parchment attached. _

_Malchior opened it and read it:_

Pretty little eagle covered in red  
Seems Lord Baran lost his head  
Surrender Malchior or you'll end up dead  
For trying to take my now departed wife to your bed_*****_

_Malchior laughed and burned the note. "He still tries to taunt me despite his loss. It doesn't matter, he's just delusional, whoever he is. Have my servants prepare a feast, we're celebrating our victory in two weeks!"_

_As the servants slaved away, preparing a lavish feast for their master, Richard informed Gar that it was time for them to switch places._

_The battle had been a success, and despite their supposed route, they had successfully captured and killed Lord Baran, which satisfied Garfield more than any battlefield victory. One of Terra's murderers had been put in the ground where he belonged; the other would soon join him. _

"_Where are you going Garfield?" Victor asked._

"_I have to switch places with Richard; he's been in that castle too long."_

"_Be careful," Victor warned. _

"_I will," Gar replied. He mounted Cielo and rode off into the night._

_He arrived at the castle, noticed all the bright colors and banners streaming about. He hated going to these "feasts", they were borderline on being thinly veiled orgies, since Malchior couldn't restrain himself from taking off other women's chastity belts and everything else they were wearing. It was requirement that wives wear them while their husbands were away at war__*****__, but most of the time, either he took them off after he seduced them or they willingly took off their belts and their clothes for him. _

_The excessive decadence made him feel inclined to vomit. Malchior was fondling and groping some excessively busty wench, he _refused _to look over in his direction. Considering the fact that Malchior had wanted to do such things to his wife Terra, he did not want to think about what would have become f her had Malchior succeeded in murdering him._

_And what was with all the males' obsession with women's busts? Sure you wanted your significant other to be attractive, but some of these wenches, he refused to call them maidens, they were anything _but _chaste or pure, or words that would be used to describe moral women, had bosoms so large he thought that they shouldn't be able to be held up by their otherwise slim bodies__*****__. _

_Terra had been beautiful, not like these women. They were appealing and good looking and attractive. But Terra had radiated everything he loved. Kindness, genuine goodness and a need to help others. She was also clever and witty and enjoyed his sense of amusement that Victor and Kori and Richard didn't always seem to understand._

_She was also very good looking, but who she was made her beautiful. And he cursed Malchior for taking her away from him._

_Gar moved toward the hallway, he needed to find somewhere that was actually quiet for once. He wondered the hallways until the noise had died down a bit._

_Garfield moved forward. He thought he heard…weeping? What was going on here? He could see a figure in a corner, but the hallway was poorly lit and he was far away._

"_Excuse me? Are you all—" he began to ask, still using Richard's voice, when suddenly; Malchior gripped his shoulders and turned him around._

"_Janus, I found you!" he exclaimed. "Come, drink up! Celebrate my great victory with me!"_

_He let himself be led back into the feasting hall, he tried to look for the shadowy figure but whoever it was had left._

_Raven stumbled into a dimly lit part of the hallway, she couldn't help but cry, she'd seen Malchior with another woman again; he had promised her that he had changed. She still wanted to believe him, maybe it was the wine. She would have rather been treated like some kind of trophy wife than be ignored and belittled in her own house. She couldn't stand it anymore, she had to get away._

_She decided to return to her bedchamber. She was in no mood to feast._

* * *

_It had been several months since Garfield had attended the feast at Malchior's castle, Richard had switched places with him a few weeks after that and had been the one who had planted Lord Baran's body where Raven found it along with Garfield poetic note taunting Malchior._

"_Farewell, Victor, Garfield, please be safe," Kori said. "Have fun storming the castle!" It was a two weeks ride back to the castle and that would give her plenty of time to invade Nol, it was only a few days away from their current location._

_They both nodded, and rode off into the night._

_Meanwhile, Raven was confronting Malchior about what he had done the night of the feast._

"_How could you do this to me again and again?" Raven demanded._

"_Sweet Raven," Malchior said gently. "I was drunk, I wasn't thinking. I promise, it won't happen again."_

"_I'm tired of believing you," Raven sighed. "I'll be reading the Galleon Scrolls if you need me."_

_It was far away from his bed chamber, down several stairways, she would be there for a long time that night. She never even knew Garfield, Richard and Victor were confronting her husband about what he had done._

"_Hey, how did you know about these secret passages?" Victor asked Richard. _

_Garfield and Victor had successfully incapacitated two guards outside, they tied them up and hid them and stole their armor, Richard had let them in after they gave him the signal they had arranged._

"_I actually bothered to look," he replied._

"_What does he use these for?" Gar asked._

"_I'd think you'd already know," Richard told him._

"_Oh, for _that_," Gar smirked. "Does he ever block these off when they're not in use?"_

"_No," Richard said._

"_What an imbecile!" Victor laughed. "Doesn't he know that these can be use to assassinate him?"_

"_Well evil _is_ stupid after all," Gar pointed out._

"_That's not what that actually means, Gar," Richard said. "Oh, never mind."_

"_When I'm king there will be no such thing as a secret passage," Garfield said. "If everyone knows about it there'll be no surprises when someone is in my room before I am." _

"_Guards will not wear helmets indoors or wear armor that anyone could slip into, it was too easy for us to get in here."_

"_Well it helped that I was in here already," Richard pointed out. "I guess he is right when he says evil is stupid," Richard laughed. "We just have the two guards in front of his bedchamber."_

_They approached the guards. They looked at them and nodded. _

"_We are here to relieve you of your duties," Richard told them. They nodded and walked off._

_Garfield slipped inside. Malchior was asleep in his bed, and he was alone, no mistress tonight. How fortunate._

She must be watching over me, _he thought, _thank you Terra.

"_Good evening, My Liege," Garfield greeted him. _

_Malchior started awake. There was someone in his bedchamber. How had someone come into his most private place? _

"_Who are you?" Malchior demanded._

"_Someone…someone who has wanted to punish you for your sins for a long time."_

_Victor and Richard waited outside and kept watch for any other knights. They could hear Garfield's voice from inside the room. _

_"For everything you've done, I don't have any second thoughts about castrating you!" They heard Malchior let out a terrified squeak._

_Victor was shaking from laughter._

_"Oh please sir," he imitated a terrified shriller version of Malchior. "Don't take my royal parts! I need those!"_

_Richard was rollicking, "Even though they don't work!"_

"_I heard they fixed him," Victor said._

"_I really would prefer to castrate him, and then he really would be fixed," Richard scowled._

_They finally quieted down to hear what was being said. "What have I done? Surely you can't accuse me—"_

"_Don't feign naiveté thinking that will save you from my wrath. I wondered why you were so accommodating to me that night, promoting me to the rank of Baron, along with my closest friends; you were planning on going after his wife after you were through with mine!"_

_Malchior was speechless for once. "Who are you? Are you the one they call Absalom?"_

"_Yes, but I've grown weary of the silly games I've been playing with you. It's time I told you my real name and why I am here."_

"_Games? The only one playing games here is me," Malchior smirked. "I've been toying with you. I am systematically defeating your armies and decimating your numbers."_

"_That's what I would have you think, even though I seek to usurp you as king, that wasn't my true intention from the start."_

_Malchior was stunned. "What do you mean? Stop speaking in riddles!"_

'_My true intention for starting this war, for taking up my various personas to get close to you, the reason I did all this was just for tonight, at this very moment, my armies are descending on Nol as we speak, that is your home village is it not?"_

"_How could you? " Malchior stared. "You would take my home village?"_

"_Yes, it was very fitting, as you've taken everything from me. Or have you already guessed who I am?"_

"_No, speak plainly!" Malchior snapped._

_Garfield removed his helmet._

"_Lord Garfield!" Malchior was deeply shaken. "But I would have recognized you. Then who was the man I met who called himself Absalom?"_

"_None other," Gar replied._

"_Why did you come up with a silly name like that?" Malchior asked._

"_You don't read very much do you?" Garfield laughed. "Well it doesn't matter, since the name is no longer important."_

"_You met me first; you didn't recognize me because I took the face, mannerisms and appearance of a close ally."_

"_Lord Richard," Malchior recalled. "You are close with Lord Richard."_

"_We are friends yes. I had him teach me everything, how to walk, talk, eat, think and be everything he was."_

"_But when you gave that speech, when you first declared war on me. Who was at my side then? _

"_Richard was, of course. The trick was when we would switch. We made sure it was at different times of course, we knew when we needed to change places." _

"_But you are much shorter than he is!" Malchior stared, how could this peasant outthink and outmaneuver him?_

"_Victor made me books that were much taller. You didn't notice my footsteps were heavier than Richard's did you?"_

"_You can't be that smart!" Malchior snapped. "And why all the games?"_

"_I wanted to play games because it was too much fun not to," Gar said, holding his sword to Malchior's throat._

"_I've waited for so long for this moment, seeing you squirm is worth all the time and effort it took to pull this off."_

"_But why?" he asked._

"_It's quite simple," Gar replied. "I want revenge. You killed my wife; you took her from me and stole Terra's life from her. You don't know what it's like, to have someone you love die in your arms. I will go berserk, and that's not a threat, that's a promise. But first I want to humiliate you, utterly and thoroughly. In fact, I already have."_

"_Impossible!" Malchior exclaimed._

"_Right now there should be a messenger arriving to tell you that your home city has fallen into the hands of my forces."_

_A messenger came running toward the room; suddenly a knife was put to his throat. _

"_Act like anything is wrong and you're dead," Victor told him. The man gulped._

"_My Lord, I have some terrible news!" the messenger called out._

_Gar pushed the blade against Malchior's throat. "Call for help and you're dead!"_

"_What is it?" Malchior asked in a normal tone of voice._

"_The village of Nol has fallen to Absalom's forces, our army has been decimated."_

"_Don't bother me with it now, I'll deal with it in the morning," Malchior said. It was all he could do to not betray his horror._

_The man left. Gar chuckled._

"_If you are here, then who is leading the attack on Nol?" Malchior asked._

"_Kori, Richard's wife," Gar replied._

"_You would send a woman out to do a man's job?" Malchior scoffed. "The female sex is evil and vile, don't you know that?"_

"_And yet you have no qualms about fornicating with them," Garfield smirked._

"_You know nothing about Princess Kori, the Kingdom of Tamaran prides itself on its warrior culture. Their princesses are especially fierce. She killed twenty knights when she made her escape from Gordania. I've seen her fight off ten men with nothing but a battleaxe as her only weapon. If anyone is going to lead my armies into battle when I'm away somewhere else, it would be her."_

_Malchior stared in horror. His actions had finally caught up to him._

"_I've heard some very…interesting rumors about you, Your Majesty," Gar said. "I've heard that you're no good, utterly useless in bed. I wonder how you discovered your impotence. Did your first lover tell you when you tried that you couldn't perform? She tell you when you tried that you were pathetic or perhaps you realized it first?"_

_Malchior glared at him. "I've had that problem fixed!" _

"_So you admit that you_ did_ have a problem, wouldn't it have been better to deny the whole thing?" Garfield laughed. Malchior realized he had just revealed the biggest blow to his ego to his enemy and turned red with embarrassment. _

"_I found out from a former mistress, she said how much better I was compared to you," Garfield grinned. He wasn't stupid enough to fall for this lie._

"_You would take what belongs to me?" he growled. _

_Garfield did all he could not to laugh just yet. Malchior bought it, hook, line and sinker._

"_Well I'll leave you to contemplate what you're going to do now, Your Majesty, just be prepared to face me like a man when next we meet."_

"_Surrender and cease your petty rebellion. If it suits you I will pay for the loss of your wife. 1,200__*****__ crowns, nothing more, nothing less. That is my final offer in this matter."_

_Gar stiffened he stood still for a moment and began shaking with rage._

"_You think I'm after money? You think I started this war for something as useless as _money_?" My wife was precious to me; there is no money you could pay me that could compensate me for my pain!" _

_He was disgusted and he began walking away._

"_You can't just walk out of here!" Malchior said, barley restraining himself from shouting._

"_Yes I can. Just watch me." Gar turned to leave._

"_And Malchior," Garfield added, as he turned to leave. "About those rumors that you were impotent, I lied. I made up the fact that I knew see how you'd react. I didn't actually think you _were_ though…it's rather sad the state you're in; you admitted it. Oh, wait a moment; it's not sad; it's excruciatingly funny."_

"_When we meet again, let it be on the battlefield, so at least they can say you died like a man and not the animal you really are!" Gar departed through the chamber door before Malchior could retort._

_He sighed and was very restless, he knew Raven was up. Maybe visiting her would boost his ego, at least there was someone he could still manipulate and control. He got up, dressed himself and called for more wine; the servants gave it to him, and informed him that the guards were gone. It would put him in a better mood before he went to torment his wife some more._

_Raven woke up the next day. She found her bed empty. Malchior was gone. She sighed and then the servants helped her get dressed. She was busy sorting through old book and papers when a servant informed her that there were some important Lords here to visit her. _

_The young man, who was rather naïve, noticed that there was a chastity belt lying in an open box, blatantly discarded, she planned on burning it later. Raven refused to wear it; it wasn't like she _needed _to._

"_My lady, aren't you going to wear that?" he asked._

"_By Azar, I'd rather burn in Hell than wear one of those so-called chastity belts!" she said angrily. "Like those things actually work. Besides, Malchior's not making me wear them is he?" _

"_No, but—" he protested._

_She gave him an ugly look._

"_You try to make me wear that, I'll castrate you. With a _dull. Old. Knife. _Do I make myself clear?"_

_The man shrunk and said, "Yes, my lady!" and bolted out of the room._

_She didn't have time to think about such nonsense, she had to deal with overbloated windbags and that was not going to make her day any easier._

_

* * *

_

Raven wandered into the archive library and began looking through the stacks of parchments and books. She saw the book of recent history and decided to read it, wondering what praises the authors would heap upon Lord Garfield.

She was uninterested in what she was reading, mainly about his battling the evil and corrupt Malchior but then she read something:

_Lord Garfield achieved several strategic victories over Malchior by feigning routes and suffering several losses to purposefully let our tyrannical former king think that he was achieving victory._

She snapped. Now she knew the truth, for all Garfield's kind words, noble speeches and heroic actions, he was just like Malchior. No wonder her husband had gloated that Gar had done exactly what he wanted when he started the war. And to think that Gar had actually contributed in creating the Philosopher's Stone by purposely sacrificing his men. It was unforgivable.

But she didn't see the last paragraph, which read:

_He did all this to overthrow the tyrant who murdered his wife and unborn child._

She found him in the throne room. He was reading over something when he looked up at him.

"Raven, is something wrong?" he asked.

She gave him a look that would kill any other man.

He heard words that he knew would be said to him sooner or later:

"You let your own men die, just so you could kill Malchior!"

He sighed. This was not going to be a nice conversation at all.

* * *

_*** **Berserkers come from the bear skirts they wore._

_***** This is a torture technique. Thank you History Channel for the documentary on the Dark Ages._

_***** Yes, ladies and gentlemen, I mocked and despise gag boobs. Yuck._

_***** It was required that wives wear chastity belts while their husbands were off at war, not that this actually worked, especially in this story since well, we all know Maldouche._

*** **_Yes, I can write my own poetry. Made that up myself. I never publish though, mainly 'cause I never actually feel like writing poetry._

_*****__ If a family member was murdered, the remaining relatives could pursue the murderer for compensation. _


	9. Chapter 8: Suspended In a Compromise

**Chapter Eight: Suspended in a Compromise**

"How could you do that!" she asked. "How could you purposely lose battles and let your men die just so you could win?"

The evil tyrant had played right into Malchior's hands, inadvertently helping create the Philosopher's Stone. She couldn't destroy it, the Stone was far too powerful, and it could only be used until it was depleted.

"I did it because I had to! It was the only way to defeat that arrogant, lust-driven piece of scum you married! And it's not like I _let_ them die. Our first few battles we were slaughtered by Lord Baran!" Gar snapped.

"You're quite ambitious aren't you, taking this kingdom for yourself. No doubt you always wanted all his power," Raven sneered.

Garfield finally lost all patience with her. "Do you still think I'm just like Malchior? That I only care for myself?"

"You may have fooled your subjects, but underneath all your false smiles and promises, you only overthrew Malchior for the power you wanted. I know you'll be overtaxing the serfs and bedding wenches soon enough!"

That was more than he could take. He exploded.

"I saved your life after you sided with me, and this is how you treat me!" he roared.

"I didn't side with you; I only refused to join them because I'm sick of all this bloodshed!"

"Don't make this about you, and speaking of which, while we're on that subject, what about you?" he snarled. "If I was going to start acting like a lech, don't you think I'd start with you?"

Raven was irate and indignant. "You monster! You _are _just like him! Now you want to seduce me too, just to gloat!"

"Are you going to keep babbling without knowing what you're saying?" Gar retorted.

"No, I'm going to put you in your place!" she raged.

"If you had been anyone else I would have you flogged for your insults, but I'm going to teach you a lesson myself!" Garfield took up a sword and handed it to her.

"We'll settle this like sensible adults!" Garfield seethed.

They began fighting. Their battle was even fiercer than before.

He was in no mood for games; he fought her with his left hand. Both hands, every style he knew he was using to beat her into submission. Still after a few minutes, he began to enjoy himself, she was very skilled, and she fought well, he hadn't had a good opponent in a long, long time.

Still, Raven had fire in her. Fiery and alive, she was so similar to Terra. She was beautiful beyond words, even when infuriated. And he _wanted_ her. More than anything, he _needed_ her.

"You're a hard man in your measures, Master," Raven snarled "You make me sick!"

"I _know_ I am," he smirked. She just _had _to say something like that. Her reaction to his innuendo was worth it. Her face twisted into a rage filled glare that could scare Satan out of Hell.

Raven balked at him. He was lewd and perverse and she was even more enraged that he was directing these comments at _her_. She was going to _kill _him!

Blades met and tangled. "Do you always speak this way to women?" she asked.

"Just to my deceased wife," he replied. "She thought they were amusing, especially since I only talked this way to her in bed."

"Now you've set your sights on me, is that it?" she asked, she blocked a blow and switched hands. She even managed to scratch the side of his head with the tip of her blade. "You wanted Malchior's throne and now you want me too!"

"You don't know how badly," Garfield laughed. "To see you breathing so hard and sweating is very amusing! After all, sex est a pugna, diligo est bellum!*****"

"I'll rip you to pieces!" Raven snarled.

Garfield quickly swung his blade, blocking all her blows and he avoided a slash aimed at his head. He ducked down and twisted as he thrust his blades backward; using the technique he had used to slay Dr. Arthur. He stopped, he didn't hear any screaming, his eyes glanced back and he could see Raven _blocking _his swords. No one had ever been able to do that before.

"How did you learn to do that?" he asked.

"I saw you, and I remembered your little speech that you have to Arthur about observing people," Raven said. "Might as well use your own technique against you."

"You're very clever—" he complimented, suddenly reversing his body as he locked his blade with hers. "—and beautiful," he said, stealing a kiss from her.

Garfield felt his head spin. She was _intoxicating_. He wondered if her hair was as soft as it looked and he wanted to hold her, her lips were wonderful, he wondered if she'd ever been kissed before, maybe, she seemed to know how, even though she wasn't returning them.

How could Malchior have chased Terra when _Raven_ was his wife? Had he not met Terra, he would have been envious of him, had he ever actually treated Raven like a spouse instead of treating her like she didn't exist. He wanted her more than the air he was breathing, and he craved her companionship the most. Malchior was truly a monster. How could he _not _love her? Not even _speak_ about her? It was inconceivable.

Raven on the other hand was shocked and horrified, how _dare _he treat her like a wench, just to throw away after he became bored. No doubt this was how Malchior seduced women and she wasn't about to let him treat her the same way.

"I am not surprised I ended up in your arms but I'm not going to enjoy it."

"I promised Malchior I'd take everything from him, but I'm especially going to _enjoy_ taking you," Gar said, and then instantly regretted it. That did not come out the right way at all, he had actually meant to say something else, but he never could say the right thing around women right when he wanted to.

"I swear, by Azar, I'm going to kill you, you monster!"

She shoved him away and attacked him in a fury, using her powers to throw things at him that he just kept cutting down.

He'd had enough of humor. She was very intent on killing him. He was glad that Richard, Victor and Kori were gone checking on the other lords. They would have interfered and this confrontation wouldn't be half as fun as it was. They were both exhausted, and they decided not to sheathe their weapons, but to rest for a little while. That didn't keep them from arguing, however.

"So tell me again Raven," he panted. "How am I the monster here?"

"You killed him, you killed him in cold blood, and right when he promised he was going to change," Raven replied.

Suddenly, her blade embedded itself above his head; he had barely managed to avoid it. He didn't know where she had gotten such reserves of strength but he guessed it was fueled by her rage.

"Do you really believe that?" Garfield scoffed. What lies had Malchior told her? Someone like him could never change.

"Yes!" she shouted. "He told me that when he returned, he'd try to fix things. He said that he would change; he said he would always be there for me. He told me he loved me!"

He parried more blows and moved her toward the back of the hall right against the closed door of his bedchamber. She looked back, but noticed the door was closed.

"He _loved_ you?" Garfield began to laugh. "Not from what I know of him. He never even _talked_ about you."

"It doesn't matter," she told him. "You still killed him. For awhile, you almost had me fooled, being so kind and generous to me. You don't really mean anything you've ever said to me. You probably asked Adonis to torture me."

"What, that I felt sorry for you? You think _I_ had you tortured and flogged? I had nothing to do with that!" Gar said. He'd never seen her so irate before. It was even more terrifying than his first time.

You probably staged everything so you would end up with me in your bed!"

"Raven for God's sake, _shut up!_" he roared.

"You shut up, you and all your lewd words and insults!" she demanded.

"It's called battle humor and innuendo, obliviously, you've never heard it before," Gar chortled.

"And regarding sex, you keep saying that like you _want_ to sleep with me!" Garfield was equally angry. "It was bad enough that you gave your body and soul to that impotent, lecherous rake, but now you you've set your sights on me too!" Garfield was infuriated beyond reason. She was quite manipulative, to think he had feelings for her. Well, she wasn't going to fool him again.

"I was about to say something about you, what about you? You must have seen me somewhere and you just had to have me. You were jealous of everything Malchior had and that's why you overthrew him. As for my body and soul, who I gave them to, is none of your concern!"

He hulled her up and pinned her against the door, knocking the sword from her hand. She was unable to move.

Raven was truly terrified. What was he going to do to her? Was he going to force himself on her? That truly frightened her. Raven's thoughts ran to her mother, her dear mother who had been manipulated by her demonic father Tirigon the Terrible. She had been conceived because of the horrible violation of her mother's body, now was he going to do the same to her?

"Just so we're clear, Raven. I didn't start this war because of you. You're quite conceited if you think that this has anything to_ do_ with you. I made your husband pay for his sins, that's all!"

To imply that he had started this war to take her as a prize was sickening beyond description. He was not that petty.

Garfield felt satisfied by the terror in her eyes. She shouldn't speak so rashly to him. He'd grown weary of her attitude toward him. But there was something else, something more than just that.

"Please…you're not going to force me are you?" She asked. Gar's rage quelled for a second. He remembered what he had told her and wondered if that was what she was terrified of.

He didn't say anything. He had said it out of rage more than anything, but she took it as if he had truly meant it.

"My father raped my mother…please don't…force me…" The tears on her face were very real, and he knew this was no facade.

His heart broke. Why had he even uttered those words in the first place? To live with the burden of being a result of something so horrible. He loosened his grip on her shoulders and took her hands in his. So that was what weighed on her heart so much.

"You've taken everything from me, there isn't anything more you could possibly do to me!" she shouted, trying to pull away from him, but he kept a firm grip on her wrists.

"Please don't leave, Raven," he whispered softly. "Don't push me away."

Garfield pulled her close and kissed her. Gentle, soothing, his lips moved over hers as he slipped his arms around her. He had waited long enough to admit and express his feelings.

"I …" Raven said softly. Her mind was in turmoil and she wasn't sure how she felt. She was too confused. She tried to remind herself that he'd killed Malchior, her husband. Tried to remember that he was the one who had taken everything from her. She'd been holding onto her reasons for hating him for so long they had affected her opinion of him.

But being in his arms, having him kissing her and returning his kisses startled even her. She had craved this, sweet, passionate, ardent devotion from Malchior that Garfield gave her.

"Forgive my rash words; I say stupid things when I'm angry. I am so sorry…" Garfield apologized.

But there was something she didn't think he knew. Because she was a widow, the church said she could not remarry, ever. It wasn't fair but she was forced to play by their rules.

"Master," she stared at him, unable to quite look him in the eye.

"You call me Garfield," he said. "It sounds much better on your lips than Master," he kissed her again.

"Garfield…" she began but he put a finger to her lips.

"I don't want you to say anything. I'm going to make you forget all about him. Malchior will be just a distant memory for you. I want to be the only thing on your mind. I will not take advantage of you, I will never hurt you. I won't use you or manipulate you, and I will never betray your trust."

"I believe you," she told him.

"I love you, Raven," he said quietly.

"Garfield, our love can never be," Raven whispered.

"Don't say that," Garfield murmured, his mouth found hers and he kissed her breathless. His arms wrapped around her shoulders and he held her against him. Garfield could feel her breathing and he enjoyed the rhythm of her body against his.

He kissed her again and finally released her from his embrace.

"It makes me hate him even more," Garfield sighed.

"Why do you say that?" she asked, curious.

"Because he had you, and he didn't want you. He should have been happy. You're more than anyone deserves. For so long you've been the one I couldn't have."

"But he did want me; he loved me in the end…" Raven sighed.

Garfield was torn. He had done to her, exactly what had been done to him, even though he didn't realize it at the time. He supposed that it was a punishment, falling in love with her. There was only one thing he could do to atone for it.

Garfield took her hand. "Please, come with me," he said. He led her down to the blacksmith's shop. No one was in there and he began picking up tools.

"What are you doing Garfield?" she asked as he began working. She heard something break and she realized it was the collar around her neck.

"I am giving you your freedom," he said quietly. "You may do whatever you wish. I won't stop you."

"I think…I think I want to return home, to Nol," she said. Maybe if she went home she could sort out her feelings.

* * *

"_You're no good," Malchior hissed, glaring up at Raven._

"_Malchior, this is our wedding night, you can't expect this to be perfect," Raven protested._

"_You can't even arouse me, you're a useless lover."_

"_Malchior, don't say that. What's gotten into you, ever since you became king, you've changed. I don't even know you anymore."_

"_Don't change the subject. I'm very disappointed in you, Raven; I was expecting to consummate our marriage, despite the fact that this isn't a requirement."_

"_We could if you would let me try," she began._

"_Don't bother, it's not worth it," he said, turning over._

_Raven rolled over and slumped her shoulders. What had she done wrong? She'd read books, heard stories, and yet it seemed he didn't even _want_ to consummate their marriage, after all, this _did _take two people. She couldn't help but wonder if this was her fault. She tried not to think about it, and drifted into a dejected sleep. Maybe they'd try again later, but they never did._

Garfield stared at his empty bedroom, utterly dejected. He hadn't expected Raven to leave. He had hoped that she would have stayed, that he could earn her forgiveness somehow.

But that dream had shattered, the moment she had said that she had wanted to return no Nol. He didn't hold it against her though. She would be leaving in a week, and he hoped that she would be able to be happy. Even if it wouldn't be with him.

He felt that just when he had found someone to be happy with, fate always took them from him. He remembered Terra; their five years together had been the happiest times in Gar's life…

_Garfield sighed; completely content. It had been such a wonderful wedding day. The wedding night had been a little awkward, but they were utterly happy._

_Terra was curled against his shoulder, sprawled across his lap. They were covered by blankets and she looked up at him._

"_You were wonderful," she murmured. _

"_So were you," he grinned. _

"_How could the church possibly say it's a sin*****, to love each other and enjoy intimacy?" Terra asked him. "They only expect us to do it once and _not _enjoy it."_

"_I don't believe that's right any more than you do, they say it's just for procreation, not pleasure," Garfield didn't get it either._

"_Well then I want more than one child," Terra stated adamantly. "I thought the Holy Scriptures say to "be fruitful and multiply."_

_"That suits me just fine," Gar laughed. "If our love is a sin, then we'll be the worst of sinners. Together."_

"_How many children do you want Garfield?" Terra asked._

"_Are you being serious?" he countered. Children were important but because life was hard for both women and children, unless you were a noble, most peasants and serfs did not wish to have children*****._

"_Yes, answer my question. How many children do you want?"_

_He thought for a moment. "Oh, two maybe?"_

_Terra laughed. "That would be interesting."_

"_A boy and a girl, it's perfect."_

"_Your shoulders are tense, Terra. Is something wrong?" Garfield began rubbing the back of her shoulders._

"_No, I have been very busy—oh, that hurts."_

"_Do you want me to stop?" he asked._

"_No, it helps," she replied, completely relaxed, lying on his lap on the bed._

_They drifted off to sleep, dreaming of a bright future together._

"Raven?" Garfield called to her.

"Yes…Garfield," she looked over hesitantly at him.

"I know my words don't mean much, but…Raven_, _I'm sorry I took him from you. I gave him every chance but he didn't want it." he felt the weight in his chest become heavier. He thought apologizing was supposed to make you feel lighter, like the burden was coming off your shoulders and not getting heavier.

'Asking my forgiveness won't bring him back," Raven didn't look at him.

"I know, but you can't say that I never apologized," he turned to look out a window. "I don't expect you to forgive me."

That startled her. Usually, in a situation, she expected him to beg and plead for forgiveness.

"Then I guess this is goodbye," she told him.

"I supposed it is," he replied. "Be safe Raven."

Raven took a horse from the stable, and departed for Nol.

Raven stopped her horse next to a small cottage. It had taken her some time to get back. This had been what she had once called home a long time ago, when she had first moved to Nol. They had all forgotten about her. It had been many years since she had been there.

She stepped inside and looked around, no one had been in there and it had been unlived in for some time. The town had been torn apart by the war between Garfield and Malchior and people were just starting to return.

Raven sat down on what was left of her bed and had to wonder. What was she going to do now? Should she return to Jump Estate and confess her feelings to Garfield, if she had any feelings for him at all, or should she just stay here and live out her life however she wanted?

_Raven, I'm sorry I took him from you. I gave him every chance but he didn't want it._

Did he truly want to change? Or was he playing her heartstrings after all? She didn't know what to think.

She began rummaging through her things. She found a book, hidden under the floor. It was some kind of record. She opened it and saw the handwriting. It was Malchior's.

_I want everything the world has to offer, I don't care how I get it. I'll have everything. Money, women, status, nothing will be beyond my reach. I will lie, steal, cheat and manipulate anyone, I _will_ rule this country and no one will stop me._

_As for women, they're easy. Promise them love and affection and they'll do whatever you want them to. It's too easy to charm them, especially the ones who are truly vulnerable. As for her? She's especially easy to manipulate. I never loved her, I loved her power, and her knowledge of magic is what draws me to her. She's not particularly attractive and I couldn't care less about what she wants. My sweet Raven is just another puppet. It's too bad I'm already growing bored of her. I guess I'll have to string her along, I _hate _the fact that I'm getting married to her._

Raven's eyes blurred. She'd been played for a fool all along. How could she not have seen this coming? Her love for him had blinded her to nearly all his sins. She shook with rage and grief. Just when she felt her heart might heal, it shattered again.

She let out an agonized scream of grief.

Garfield had followed her back, leaving Richard in charge of his affairs. He had been curious about where she had come from and wanted to see where she had lived. He had travelled in normal clothes, not wishing to flaunt the fact that he was travelling around.

He heard a shout, and it tore him apart when he realized who the voice belonged to. He dismounted Cielo and ran toward the sound of the voice.

He found her, huddled on the floor, her face buried in her hands. He saw her tears and wondered why she was crying. He saw the book and picked it up. The words he read mortified him. Just when he had wondered if Malchior had a heart, his suspicions were confirmed. He had manipulated and used her too.

Raven sensed a presence behind her and saw Garfield, dressed in simple clothes and he looked at her.

"Raven, I'm so sorry," Gar said. He knelt down beside her.

"What are you doing here?" she asked him.

"I wanted to see where you came from. I was worried about you and—"

She pulled him to her, her arms wrapped around his waist. Gar held her against him and whispered comforting words to her.

"You're going to be all right. I love you. Shh…shh…Please don't cry."

"He lied to me. He lied, and I gave him what he wanted."

"You think you're alone Raven, but you're not, and I'm sorry."

"What could you be sorry for? You're not the one who…"

"I'm sorry that he broke your heart." He meant it.

"I'm sorry for what I said to you. I don't hate you anymore," Raven looked at him.

"Let's go home," he said.

"I can't say in the castle, I'm not your servant. I have no right to stay."

"But I still need a tutor," he said. "Who better than you?"

"Are you sure about that?" she asked quizzically.

"Yes, Rae, I'm completely sure," he replied.

No one called her that before. She found she really didn't mind.

She followed him out to Cielo, it was time to go home.

"What became of the families of the men who died?" Raven asked.

"I provided them with food and water and anything they needed," he replied. "They were good people. Their families deserve respect and honor for what they did."

Raven nodded. She'd been wrong about him all along. She regretted the words she said to him. Still, there was one more thing she needed to know.

"Garfield, why won't you tell me what Malchior did to you?" Raven asked.

"I wasn't ready to talk about it," he replied.

"Are you now?" she asked.

"Yes. I think it's time I told you, since you know the truth of how he really was," Garfield said. "I never forgive him for what he did to me."

"What would that be?" she asked, deeply curious.

"He murdered my wife," Garfield said, the grief evident in his voice.

"When did this happen?" Raven asked. "I never heard anything about it."

"Malchior wouldn't tell you of course. I never even saw you when I came to the castle."

"I was gone," Raven explained. "I found Malchior in bed with another woman, and I was too upset to stay there."

"That explains it. He tried to seduce Terra, she refused him. When we left, Malchior ordered to have me killed, but Baran missed and shot Terra instead. She died in my arms."

"Garfield, I'm sorry," Raven told him. What else could she say? All this time she thought he was a power hungry war mongering monster, but now she knew that he was a man rightfully justified in a war for revenge. If something like this had happened to her, wouldn't she have done the same things in if she were in his shoes?

"It's worse, Terra was pregnant."

Raven was horrified. Any remainder of any emotional attachment she had to Malchior dissolved in that moment. Malchior had murdered a woman and her baby. She hated him and like Garfield, would never forgive him.

"I'm such a fool," she berated herself. "I couldn't even see him for what he was."

"You loved him, and he knew that. He knew exactly what to do and say to you," Garfield looked at her. "What did he say to you that caused you to hate me so much for killing him?"

"He told me he loved me, those were his last words he ever said to me," Raven wondered if that was a lie too.

"Do you think he meant them?" Gar asked her.

"I doubt it," Raven sighed.

"Raven," Gar looked at her.

"What Garfield?" she asked.

"I love you."

**_Author's Note: _**

**_* _**_Sex is a battle, love is war (translated in Latin!) Saw it as a quote on TVTropes, had to use it. The Latin just makes it sound cooler._

**_*_**_ They really did believe that sex, even married sex for pleasure was a sin. So all those Hollywood movie set in the Middle Ages where the hero and the love interest fall in love and sleep together (most of the time, it's fornicating) would have been seen as a Big No by the Catholic church back then, and knights were technically Catholic. So Hollywood fails religious studies forever._

**_*_**_ In the Middle Ages, getting pregnant wasn't exactly a great thing 'cause they didn't know how to take care of women and raising kids was hard because they got sick and died a lot._

_My brother and sister-in-law are happily married and are the happiest married people I know. Yay for real life experiences and observations. I've never seen them fight, they're all lovey-dovey and it's completely sweet, my brother's a soldier and he's made of win so that's why. He even taught me some defense techniques I can actually do. They're both my inspirations for BB/Rae pairing and BB/T pairing. Yes, I know the happiest married couple in the WORLD._

_P.S.: I'm deeply glad I killed off Maldouche early on. Thank you DarkRapture for the story ideas. I was originally gonna make BB/Rae's first kiss a slap-slap kiss, but then I put her origin story in there, and then slap-slap kiss was definitely not appropriate, so I changed it._


	10. Chapter 9: The Silence of the Sound

**Chapter Nine: The Silence of the Sound is Soon to Follow**

_**Author's Note: **__Yay, fluffy romantic time! The series finale of LOST is a flipping Gainax Ending! UGH! At least I'm comforted by the fact that the FMA ending next month won't make me want to scream in frustration, unlike LOST!_

_

* * *

_

"How many times do I have to explain this to you, you yogurt brain?" Raven said, pounding on the table.

"Want a taste?" Garfield jested.

"No I don't!" Raven said exasperated. "Didn't you hear what I just told you?"

"Yes, yes, I heard you," Garfield said. "You were showing me those Arabic numbers weren't you?"

"Yes, can you convert them from Roman Numerals?" she asked.

"I think so," he replied. "I is 1, II is 2, III is 3, IV is 4, V is 5, VI is 6, VII is 7, VIII is 8, IX is 9, and X is 10."

"Very good," Raven congratulated him. "You should get some rest."

"What time is it?" Garfield asked.

"Two-o'-clock," Raven replied. Garfield had received a clock as a gift from Richard, who had gone to Italy and purchased it as a present.

"Let's go outside," Garfield suggested.

They began walking through the garden, Garfield seemed abnormally quiet.

"Is something wrong, Garfield?" Raven asked.

"No, nothing's wrong," he replied.

"You're unusually quiet today," Raven observed.

"I see you noticed," he laughed.

"Raven, what do you want to do with your life?" he asked.

She frowned at the strange question; no one had ever really asked her that before.

"I'm not quite sure, if the Church would let me use my powers, I would use them to help people, but I can't," she sighed.

"Terra, she was gifted, like you. She had special powers. She could move the earth with her mind, and she saved my life when we first met," Garfield stopped for a moment.

"Is that all you see when you look at me?" Raven asked. "Just a reflection of Terra, the wife you lost?"

"No of course not," he insisted. "I see you, you're clever, quick witted, you truly care about me, not like these sycophants who have latched onto me like leeches. They'll suck me dry if I'm not careful. And you never lie to me. I find your honesty one of the things I love about you the most."

"I see…" she wasn't sure what to say or if she should say anything.

"What are these other things?" she was curious. Malchior had never bothered to really have a conversation with her, unless it concerned magic or talk of things that didn't interest her.

"The fact that you want to talk to me. That you want to know who I am and don't want my friendship for anything that it can bring you, politically or financially. And I feel like I can talk to you about anything."

Garfield laughed. "You must find these things rather silly."

"No Garfield, I don't find it silly at all," Raven told him. "You're the first person who hasn't ever been afraid of me. You accept me and you've never judged me or thought I was…"

"Evil?" he supplied.

"Yes," she whispered.

"Only the stupid or the blind would stand there and call you evil," Gar said, holding her hand.

He kissed her sweetly and she embraced him. She stumbled against him and lost her balance. He tumbled to the ground with her and she landed on top of him. He noticed their predicament and chuckled, seemingly amused by the situation.

"Garfield, you shouldn't be out here with me like this," Raven warned. He was beneath her. He was smiling up at her. Gar pulled her mouth down to his.

"What could possibly be wrong with me showing you affection?" he asked, still kissing her.

"This won't look good for you, I'm not your wife for one and for another, all the peasants hate me!" Raven hissed in his ear.

"Must you always worry Rae?" Gar asked, pulling away.

"Your rashness will cause nothing but trouble," Raven warned. "This is a very compromising position we're in*****!"

"I'll deal with it when the time comes," he reassured her.

Raven got to her feet and pulled him up. He gave her a smile and led her away, back into the town. He thought that he would find Victor and Richard and they would all spend some time together. They had all welcomed Raven as their friend and she became close to all of them.

Little did Garfield know that a peasant, an apple farmer had seen them together with Raven on top of Garfield as they kissed. He was angry; all the peasantry knew of Lord Malchior's cruelty and most had experienced it.

He was insulted that the wife of the tyrant was the one who held their King's attention. They had been furious when they had learned that she was his tutor and that he had freed her from the servitude they thought she deserved.

But to see their master publicly displaying affections for her, with her on top of him was utterly despicable. He decided to report it to the local church. Surely Lord Garfield had fallen under the witch's spell and the church would help Garfield be rid of her evil sorcery.

"What did you say they were doing?" the Father asked, an eager look in his eye.

"They were kissing, Lord Garfield and the witch Raven," the peasant replied, truly mortified. "She was on top of him."

"Could you tell what the nature of their activities were?" the Father asked.

"I could not see, I am sure I would not want to see," the peasant said.

"So they could have been naked for all you know," the Father said, an evil thought entered his head. He despised the fact that Garfield was so fond of Malchior's widow and the fact that she apparently returned his affections. How dare he spit in the faces of all the peasants he swore to defend by falling in love with that evil witch!

"The little harlot, how _dare_ she seduce our king!" the Father raged. "Incite your fellow peasants against Lord Garfield. Let him know that God does not tolerate such behavior!"

Richard was the first to notice that something was terribly wrong. There was a crowd of about twenty peasants. They were armed with pitchforks and knives and axes.

"What's the matter?" Garfield asked calmly. Richard put his hand on his sword.

"We saw you," a peasant shouted, "with her!"

"Who I keep company with shouldn't bother you," Garfield said warily.

"She was on top of you, seducing you, we will not stand for it anymore, we will break this witch's curse on you by killing her ourselves since you refuse to!"

Garfield immediately, moved himself between Raven and the crowd. Richard and Victor were shoving them back, trying to keep the angry mob away from their friend.

"Raven is not evil, just listen to me—" Garfield was speaking loudly, trying to be heard over the crowd.

Suddenly, a peasant stepped forward; he had a bow in his hand.

"Death to the tyrant!" he shouted.

None of them actually saw the arrow hit Garfield, they just saw him get knocked off his feet and hit the ground hard.

Richard moved between the enraged crowd and Raven. He began blowing on a horn, summoning other knights to his aid. Victor spotted the man who had tried to assassinate Garfield and he quickly removed a knife and hurled it into the man's chest. He dropped dead instantly. Gar lay on the ground, bleeding from his shoulder. She could see the arrow and wanted to help him, but the crowd was trying to get to her and Richard was trying to get to Garfield while Victor was trying to hold the mob at bay.

"Raven, get back!" Victor ordered. "Stay behind me! We're getting you out of here!"

"Garfield!" she called out to him. "Garfield!"

Victor helped Raven up onto his horse and they began riding back to the castle. He beat angry peasants off and tried his best not to hurt them.

"What about Garfield?" Raven asked; her voice full of fear.

"Richard will take care of him," Victor reassured her. "Don't worry about him. Richard will get him out. He always does."

Garfield's vision began to blur. There was excruciating pain in his right shoulder. Someone had shot him. It was very painful. He wondered if he was going to bleed out, just like his wife Terra had.

His vision began to fade when he felt himself being lifted up. He recognized the helmet. It was Richard.

_You came for me, just like always, _Gar thought.

Richard carried him away on horseback as the knights he had summoned subdued the angry peasants.

Despite this incident, Garfield couldn't help but feel a sense of happiness. It had been six years since he'd fallen in love with a woman. He was grateful to Terra; she had shown him what it truly meant to love someone else.

He had never really believed it was possible, until she'd come into his life.

* * *

"_Come on, Terra, come on!" Garfield beckoned his female companion. Terra had a nervous expression on her face. He had fireworks in one hand, and a candle in the other. _

"_This is going to be exciting!" he was giddy._

"_Garfield Logan, you're going to shoot off fireworks you stole from the stockpile that were purposely for the wedding!"_

"_It's not like Lord Malchior is going to care," Garfield laughed. He had taken a candle with him and started lighting them up. He jumped away and watched them go up into the sky. The crowd started cheering, not knowing that they weren't even supposed to go off yet. Then suddenly, the sky exploded in an array of very bright, beautiful colors._

"_It's beautiful here," Terra said, staring out from a spot on the bridge, as the fireworks were being shot up into the sky. _

"_Yes, it is," Garfield agreed. _

"_Why didn't you congratulate the bride and groom?" Terra asked._

"_I've never actually met His Majesty or the Queen, nor do I wish to for that matter," Garfield replied. "I'm just a lowly soldier. A life on the battlefield, that's my life. Not extravagant feasts and wine and women."_

"_Is that all you want your life to be, just going to war?" Terra asked._

"_The love of battle is the food that a knight lives on," Garfield smiled. "Honor and glory. That suits me fine."_

"_But you can't live on those things for the rest of your life," Terra observed._

"_No, of course not," Garfield looked at her. _

"_What about you?" he asked. "You are the Princess of Markovia, surely, your parents have arranged your marriage to some noblemen."_

"_No, I left them a long time ago, they don't know where I am and there is no political advantage to marrying me. My brother Brion Markov is the crown prince." _

"_Nonsense, noble families are always looking for ways to increase their power, you would just be married off to some rich man."_

"_I ran away from home because I didn't want to get married for politics," Terra said, her eyes were set. "I want to get married for love."_

"_Love?" Garfield gave a derisive laugh. "Ah, is this the notion of "romantic love" that I've heard so much talk about lately?"_

"_Is there something wrong with it?" Terra seemed irritable._

"_No, it's just, I don't think it can really be done," Gar told her. _

"_Why are you so skeptical?" she asked. "Look at Richard and Kory, they have gotten married!"_

"_They've always been fond of each other," Garfield explained. "It's merely a coincidence, a fluke that they've married."_

"_Oh good grief Garfield, listen to yourself!" Terra was exasperated. "You act as if it's impossible for you to love anyone besides yourself."_

"_It's not that," Garfield protested. "It's just, all these things you keep talking about, I don't really understand them."_

"_Then I'll _make_ you understand," Terra said simply._

"_How?" he asked, thoroughly puzzled._

"_Like this," Terra leaned forward and kissed him._

_Garfield felt as if the whole world stopped. This feeling, this new, wonderful, exquisite feeling, began to invade him like an army besieging a castle. He'd heard talk about "falling in love" and how wonderful it was, but _this _was beyond him._

_His heart was pounding. What was he supposed to do? His mouth began to mimic hers, gently moving across her lips. He felt…so happy. He hadn't felt this way since his childhood, before his parents had drowned, managing to push him to safety before they were swept away in a river in some distant country. _

_They had been there as healers, and doctors. They had even managed to save him after he had come down with the Plague; he had barely managed to survive._

_He was very fond of Terra, they had been friends for a long time, but he had never seen themselves as anything more than that, considering her royal heritage. _

_He was rather skeptical about life; perhaps the fact that he knew life was short. He didn't believe the strange ideas that the religious minds spouted on about. That people had dog heads and existed__*****__. That people thought the moon was being attacked by monsters every so often, or that the eclipse in the heavens was a harbinger of doom. He was smarter than that._

_He felt his arms slipping around her waist. He pulled away from her and gave her a nervous smile. "That was…interesting."_

"_You're such a skeptic aren't you Garfield?" Terra asked. "I wonder how I'm going to get it through your thick skull."_

"_What?" he asked._

"_That I've fallen in love with you," she said. _

"_Really?" he asked._

"_Yes, Garfield. I have," Terra said._

"_It doesn't sound so bad," he said. "This romantic love that you always talk about. It's rather fascinating. But I still don't understand it."_

"_Don't worry, Gar," she told him. "You're not supposed to."_

_Garfield moved forward and pulled her close, he pressed his mouth to hers. Maybe being in love wasn't such a bad thing after all._

_

* * *

_

Raven saw Richard dismounting his horse in the courtyard, there was something on the back of it. She realized it was Garfield.

"Is he still alive?" she asked.

"Yes, Victor brought Kori here didn't he?" Richard asked.

"Yes, she is," Victor said. They moved him to a table Kori had prepared. A squire hastily removed Garfield's armor he'd been wearing, the arrow had gone between the chinks and into his shoulder.

The armor was off and blood leaked everywhere. Kori handed Raven a wooden cylinder.

"Put this in his mouth," she instructed.

"What for?" she asked.

"You will see," Kori replied.

Raven put the wooden cylinder near his mouth. "Bite down."

He did as he was told. He was breathing heavily.

Raven saw Kori take out a knife and she began cutting into his shoulder.

"What are you doing?" she asked, panicked.

"I am removing the arrow from his shoulder by cutting it out," Kori told her.

Garfield was screaming in terrible pain.

"Isn't there anything you can do for the pain?" Raven asked.

"I could give him some hemlock juice* but that could kill him," Kori warned. "You will just have to bear with the pain Garfield."

"We could give him some medicine," Another healer suggested.

Garfield ripped the cylinder out of his mouth. "No medicine! I refuse to take medicine; I won't have you shoving that cold metal thing up my butt!"

"_That's _how he receives medicine?" Raven asked, more than a little horrified.

"Yes, but I do try to give him everything else," Kori told her.

"Have you tried opium?" Raven asked.

"Does it work?" Kori asked.

"Yes," Raven replied. "I have seen a few surgeries."

"Anything else I need?" she asked.

"Some Ale and some silk thread," Raven replied. "I've…had to pull arrows out of Malchior more than once."

"But how did you learn that?" Kori asked.

"I've read the medical books of Albucasis, Rhazes, and Avenzoar*****."

"The famous Arabian doctors, I see, I have not gotten to read those books, you must teach me everything you know."

"I will, after we get that out of him," Raven sorted through the materials they brought her.

They gave him the opium and he went to sleep. Kori then cut around the arrowhead and pulled it out. Raven used some ale to clean his wounds and then, since Kori had more experience sewing, she sewed his wound back together.

"I could use your help here, you could save thousands of lives," Kori smiled. "I am grateful. Please, watch him while I attend to my other patients."

"I will," Raven replied. She sat down beside Garfield. She placed her hand on his wounded shoulder.

"Azarath, Metrion, Zinthos," she whispered softly, she was going to use her powers to heal him, no matter what the church or anyone said. She loved him too much to lose him.

* * *

_Terra felt him staring at her as he willed her to return his gaze. He was overpowering and so full of passion as he willingly embraced his emotions that he hadn't understood before. She had never been so happy in her life. _

_They shared everything together, and in a month they were going to be married. It had been a year since they'd shared their first kiss. They'd become close and he wanted to marry her. He had tried to ask her parents' permission but when they found out he was not a nobleman and that there was no political advantage to the marriage, they refused. _

_They wanted to force her to marry someone else, but she had told them she'd made up her mind to marry Garfield. Then they disowned her and took her lands and estates she had possessed in Markovia. She didn't care though, she was going to marry Gar, and that was enough for her._

_It was important for the parents of the bride and groom to give their permission, but since Garfield was an orphan and Terra was disowned, they decided to just get married anyway. _

_Terra looked up at her betrothed, a young 16 year old Garfield Logan. "Garfield, promise me something," she told him as he held her in his arms. _

"_Hmm? What is it Terra?" he asked._

"_Promise me you'll wait until we're married to make love to me, all right?" she asked. He was a little surprised, sometimes; consummation was allowed to take place before the actual wedding so the request was strange._

"_But we'll be married _very_ soon," he murmured, "We could consummate our marriage now." He gave her a smile._

"_I want to wait," she told him._

"_Why?" he asked, curious. _

"_it will be special then, I want to call you my husband when we have sex. This is something I want. Will you do that for me?"_

"_I'd do anything for you Terra," he kissed her cheek sweetly. "I'll wait, just because you want me to."_

_He looked over at the bright hearth as the fire burned brighly in his estate. "This next month is going to kill me!"_

"_You'll survive," she reassured him. "Besides, the _anticipation _is what makes this worth it."_

"_How do you know?" he asked._

"_Trust me, Garfield," she told him, a gleam in her bright blue eyes. "You'll be thanking me on our wedding night."_

* * *

Garfield opened his eyes, waking from the wonderful dream he was having. There was pain in his right shoulder. It didn't seem as bad as before though. He looked over and saw Raven staring at him.

"You're awake," he heard Raven's voice tell him. "That's good."

"Did they hurt you?" He asked.

"No I'm fine," Raven replied.

"I'm going to find out who gathered that mob and who incited them against you. I won't let anyone hurt you, ever. I promise you that."

Raven considered his words and smiled. She took his hand in hers.

"Kori says you'll recover."

"My shoulder feels much better now," Garfield said.

"I'm glad of it; I used my powers to heal it."

"And they say that magic is evil," Garfield sighed. "You could do so much for people."

"But the church won't let me," Raven reminded him.

"Yes, that's true…" Garfield felt the realization of who had incited the mob against him. The Holy Father was very fond of condemning sinners, he _loved _to condemn Raven, despite the fact that he never mentioned her by name and despite the fact that she had never set foot inside the cathedral. Once he recovered, he was going to pay the Father a visit.

"Garfield," Raven looked over at him.

"What is it, Raven?" he asked.

"I love you," she said simply. She meant every word.

"I love you too," he told her. She moved over and kissed his forehead. He gave her a smile and drifted off to sleep.

It was a month before he had fully recovered and Garfield walked into the cathedral and saw the Father in prayer.

"Hello My Lord, have you come to confess your sins?" he asked. "Perhaps that you fornicated with that violet haired witch?"

Garfield stiffened and glared at him. "It was you. You told those peasants that Raven was sleeping with me."

"Yes, I wanted to warn you against these so-called emotions you have for her. She's cast a spell on you, and she's controlling you."

"Be silent! Don't forget who I am, Father, I can have you hanged!" Garfield warned.

"I have wealth and power and the backing of His Holiness, the Pope," the Father warned. "You cannot touch me."

"Don't bring His Holiness into this; the Pope couldn't care about this insignificant country."

"I'll not have any more of your lies and slander concerning myself _or_ Raven. If you incite another riot or insurrection against me, I'll send you to Christ Jesus Himself and He'll hold you accountable for your actions. Do I make myself clear?"

The Father shrank and conceded. "As you wish, Your Majesty."

"Just as long as we're clear, Father," Garfield said. He turned and walked out of the cathedral.

He knew that his life would probably be a short one, and he didn't know how long he would live, but no matter how long it was, he wanted to share it with Raven. He made up his mind as he left; he was going to ask her to marry him.

* * *

_*** **__Hemlock juice was an anesthetic and it could kill the patient. _

***** These were all Arabic physicians who could actually perform surgeries and knew what they were doing back then.

_***** The person on top represents dominance, so a woman being on top of a man was a big no back then (although this has to do with the sex act more than anything. Wow, that's an awkward note.)_

_*** **__They did believe in weird stuff like this._

_People got married really young, like Romeo and Juliet in the play._

_I know the cliché that all fanfic writers and romance writers are girls but in reality, the _BEST_ romance I ever watched is the anime RomeoXJuliet and the half the English scripts are written by Taliesin Jaffe, who is most certainly a guy, and he's the _head writer _for the anime._


	11. Chapter 10: Somehow Sundown

**Chapter Ten: Somehow Sundown**

Richard walked into the armory to find Garfield hard at work making an elaborate, expensive suit of armor. He'd been working on it for months and planned to sell it to Lord Wayne, who was preparing to declare war on the tyrannical Lord Oswald.

"Garfield!" Richard called.

"Yes," he looked up. "Hello, Richard."

"is something on your mind? You've been very busy lately, and I don't mean with politics, you've got meetings with other Lords and you've been delaying them."

"I'm going to ask her soon," Garfield vowed. "Very soon. I want to marry her."

"We know, Garfield, we trust her and you, but this might not bode well with the commoners. They believe she's a witch," Richard warned. "Look what happened when they found out you freed her. They rioted and someone shot you with an a bow and arrow that Kori had to cut out of you."

Richard sighed, "Unlike Terra, Raven's powers are common knowledge."

"Nothing you say is going to change my mind, Richard," Gar told him. Richard knew there was no stopping Garfield once he put his mind to something.

"What do I do Richard?" Gar needed advice, it'd been a long time since he'd been married.

"Ask the Priest for his blessing, then you ask her," Richard said. The process was quite simple; he couldn't believe that Gar had forgotten.

He headed to the cathedral in high spirits to talk to the Priest about sanctioning his wedding. The Father was overjoyed that he was considering getting remarried. Until Garfield told him that he wished to marry Raven. Then, he adamantly refused to bless them. They wouldn't even let him draw up the papers for it, even though he wanted to!

"My Lord Garfield. Despite your so-called feelings for the witch Raven, I cannot permit you to marry her. Why you spared her is beyond me. She is a widow and it is against the laws of the church to remarry."

The Father gave him a stern look. "Has she bewitched you with her magic that you no longer think clearly?"

"She didn't love him, I know that much," Garfield replied.

The Father was irate. "Love is for simpletons and fools. Marriage is a business contract, a way to carry on your bloodline. And to taint it with _her_ of all people, the whoring wife of Malchior!"

"Shut your mouth!" Garfield snapped. "She's not a whore; you should go to confession yourself Father, for saying such horrible things."

"Be that as it may, you have slain countless men, so you cannot marry her."

"It was a war that is what happens in battle."

"I will not give you my blessing," he scowled at Gar.

"It won't matter, I'm marrying her."

"You would marry a pagan heathen?" the Father sputtered. "It is shameful for you to marry outside your faith, look what became of King Solomon*****."

"I'm not marrying 700 women, I just want one," Gar was frustrated, by Christ Himself, didn't they see he was trying to actually follow the rules? But just because it was _Raven_, he wished to marry had them all spewing fire, Hell and brimstone at him.

"She is not a Catholic!"

"Then I renounce my faith, if that makes you happy," Gar sighed. Surely God would understand that Raven herself wasn't evil. She was just different from everyone, she never used her magic to hurt anyone, especially since she wasn't _allowed_ to use it in the first place.

_Christ Himself is more tolerant of Raven than this pompous windbag. I highly doubt I will find a more tolerable priest who would marry us.  
_

"Garfield if you leave and marry her you'll regret it!" the Father shouted.

"I still don't see how marrying a widow is wrong. God go with you Father," Gar said. "But I'm holding you responsible for judging her like this."

He left the cathedral and headed over to Richard's house where Kori and Victor were.

"Garfield, what is wrong? You seem angry," Kori observed.

"Richard, Kori, Victor, I'm going to marry Raven," he told his friends. They weren't surprised in the least. They knew that the two of them had become close.

"But what about the church's blessing?" Richard asked.

"I don't need them to get married," he said. So _that _is what had him upset.

"I'll be gone for two weeks. I need you to stay here and watch over my kingdom for me. I won't be gone too long."

"What about the other Lords?" Richard asked. "What do I tell them?"

"Tell them I'm on holiday, that I need a break and I will resume my duties when I return," Garfield had been planning on taking a journey to ease his mind anyway.

"You will have to make your marriage public, you know," Kori warned him.

"Then I'll do that," Gar said evenly.

"Even if the citizens desert you?" Victor asked.

"I'd give up the love of the masses just to love her."

"Love, it turns us all into idiots," Richard laughed. "The only reason they permitted your first marriage and even my marriage to Kori is because both Terra and Kori are from royal families."

"Of course, we didn't marry them for that, and Terra's family disowned her for marrying me," Gar said.

"No of course not and I haven't forgotten about that," Richard laughed.

"We would go with you, but you want us to stay here," Victor said. "Well, good luck with her. You'll need it."

Raven was busy, reading through some stories, the ones about Tristan and Iseult, not that she liked the characters or the story that much, but it did pass the time. There wasn't much else to do, as she had taught Gar everything she knew. He wouldn't be interested in magic, so she hadn't brought up the subject and the fact that the church barely tolerated her existence made it a wise decision not to show him any. She looked up as he entered.

"Raven, I'm going away for awhile. I want you to come with me. "We'll be gone for two weeks."

"All right," she said. "But where are we going?"

"You'll see," he said mischievously.

She noticed he had a few things with him; one of them was very large. She gathered up some dresses and other things she needed and they departed on Cielo. Raven noticed that Garfield wore simple yet elegant clothing and did not wear anything to indicate that he was ruler of a country.

They rode for three days until they reached a wide field. She looked up and saw an abandoned church.

"Why have you brought me here?" she asked.

"I must ask you something," he said.

"Garfield…do you mean…? Raven felt tears sting her eyes. He was finally going to ask her.

Garfield got down on one knee and removed something from his pocket. It was made of solid gold. Rings weren't common items and they were ridiculously expensive*. Even on her wedding day with Malchior, he had given her a broken coin, and he had been exuberantly wealthy too, and could have afforded to give her a ring!

"Garfield…"

"Raven, will you marry me?" he asked, all the love and affection he held for her, he put into this ring. He didn't care that it had taken him months to save up for it, nor that he had to build and sell an entire suit of armor just to afford it*, the look on her face was worth all his efforts.

"I will," she replied.

"I brought you something," he said. He led her inside and showed her a large chest, she opened it. Inside the chest was the most beautiful dress she'd ever seen in her life.

It was an elegant royal blue; it had some white frills down by her waist and a high collar with white that made it resemble a flower. There were also white frills at the bottom of the skirt and it looked gorgeous.

Garfield was dressed in a green shirt, striped with light and dark green, he was very striking in it, even thought it was simple, yet becoming. It was the same outfit he had worn when he had seen her at the fountain after the feast, when he had asked her about the roses.

Gar then handed her a beautiful white rose. She had recalled telling him that she had liked them but she didn't think he actually remembered.

"Hello there," he greeted a young man, about his age. He had long hair up in a ponytail and he was sitting inside the ruined church.

"Hello sir," the young man said. He didn't recognize Garfield at all.

"Are you from around here?" Gar wondered. The young man wore traveler's clothes and he wondered where he was headed.

"No, I am heading to Jump Estate," the man replied.

"Why would you go there?" Garfield asked.

"To have adventures," the man replied. "I wish to join Lord Garfield's knights."

"I see, when you arrive, ask for Sir Richard, he will help you in anything you need."

"You know Sir Richard?" the man asked.

"Yes, you could say we're friends," Gar replied. "But before you go would you stay a moment, and be a witness for us? I am getting married, you see."

"I can see," the man replied. How had this man gotten such a beautiful lady as his bride? It didn't seem possible a man could be that lucky.

"What is your name Sir?" Garfield asked.

"Men call me Sir Garth," the man replied.

"I thank you, Sir Garth for your help," Garfield said. In order for his marriage to Raven to be valid, he would need a witness, he hadn't thought that far ahead but he was lucky that this young man was here before they were.

With that he turned his attention back to Raven he placed a small, white handkerchief on her head, to serve as her wedding veil. He led her slowly into the church and down the aisle to the front.

"Don't we need a priest?" she asked.

"It's not a requirement, I'll marry you myself," he told her. They turned to face the front.

"Here stands Garfield," he began.

"And here stands Raven," she said.

"On this morn, we promise to share joy and sorrow, for all the rest of our days," he promised, binding his heart and soul to hers.

"We swear," she vowed. They turned back to face each other.

"For all our life, and until death," he led her.

"For all our life, and until death," she repeated.

Together shall we be, henceforth, to the end of eternity." They were of one voice, heart, mind and soul.

He pulled her close and kissed her.

Their mouths fused, Gar clutched her to him, as if she would disappear. Raven held him for dear life, as if she were drowning, and she was. Drowning in all these wonderful emotions she had never felt before. They finally pulled away, and he looked at her.

"Well, I'll take my leave of you, I hope to see you in Jump Estate," Garth said. He walked out of the abandoned church without another word. Garfield waited a few minutes just to make sure Garth was gone, and to gaze on his new wife with love and pride.

"Change out of that dress, where I want to take you, you won't be able to walk around in that."

He left and let her change. Then he led her a short distance from the church.

"It's beautiful here!" she said, in awe of her surroundings.

"Not nearly as beautiful as you," he complimented. He took her hand and led her up a high ridge.

"Raven, come look at this!" he called to her. She joined him on the ridge and looked ledge.

"It's breathtaking!" she exclaimed. "A field of irises."

Flowers dotted the landscape, practically covering up the grass. He had never seen so many flowers in her life.

"Garfield, do you trust me?" she asked.

"More than almost anyone I've ever met," Gar replied.

"Except Terra," Raven said, he had been very open with her and had told her everything about what happened to Terra. Raven felt sad, perhaps if their circumstances had been different, they might have been friends.

"Yes," he sighed.

Raven moved forward and kissed him. He staggered and stumbled back and he felt fear rush through him as he realized they were falling off the ledge.

_Trust me, Garfield. _He could hear her voice in his head. As they fell, he pulled her close, slamming his mouth into hers. He let go of all rational thought except being with her.

He opened his eyes and found her on top of him; he glanced down to see they were hovering a few feet off the ground. If they were to land he would be on his back.

"I knew you had powers, but you never told me you could fly," he remarked.

"They never let me use them," she whispered.

"A pity," Gar mumbled. He felt her lower them onto the ground and he removed his cloak and set it onto the ground, he sat down on top of it and she joined him.

"Do you understand why I've refused to sleep with you before now?" he asked her.

"I thought it was because of your religion," she said. He was like most knights, a Christian and a member of the church. Not that all of them who called themselves Christian actually _acted _that way. She'd seen plenty of individuals who claimed to follow their righteous God and then disobey all the rules they say He gave them.

"Even without my religion, I wasn't going to treat you like you're just something to use up until I'm bored of you. That's how _he _treated women. I'm not an animal and I have restraint. Besides, waiting…has so many advantages…"

"Such as?" she raised an eyebrow.

"The anticipation…it's _exhilarating_," he looked at her. "Waiting makes it so much more _enjoyable_, and you don't have the church breathing down your neck either."

"It's not possible for a man to keep himself restrained," Raven scoffed.

"I did, Terra and I, we waited, and we waited because we wanted to, not because of rules, but it was our decision. The consummation…It was _euphoric_."

He leaned in closer to her. Raven could feel his hot breath on her skin and she blushed.

"Just what do you mean by that? And what do you intend to do out here?" she asked.

"Everything," he grinned mischievously and began kissing the side of her neck. He leaned her body back so she was lying beneath him. She noticed he had brought several blankets with him.

"Lust is a sin according to your religion, you know. They say it's a curse," she pointed out.

"Then may God smite me with it, and may I never recover!" he growled, his hands wrapped tightly around her.

"Don't say such things!" she scolded.

"Fine," he laughed, "But I think you know where this is going."

"Garfield, you have to stop," Raven whimpered. She stared at him. Her eyes betrayed her desire but she remembered all the rules she didn't believe in. All those rules that was very strict and confining. They were especially heavy-handed in the marriage bed, but it was not like such things could be enforced, but the idea that _grievous sins_ were attached to certain actions might bring down his reputation among the masses.

"I won't stop," he whispered. "These things aren't sins, how could they be, when we are married, and like you believe any of this either."

"We're in public! It's daylight! I worry for you, if anyone found out—" Raven protested. The dress she was wearing had been very easy to put on and well, it was going to be very easy for him to take it off. She blushed but tried to come up with an excuse for them to go somewhere private.

"We are a three days ride away from the nearest village. The sun is setting, it'll be night soon. They won't know what they cannot see," he laughed. He wasn't buying her excuses.

"I'll confess to you that I am a_ terrible_ sinner, everything I _will_ do to you I have _already_ done before."

"With Terra?" Raven asked.

"Yes," he replied, his fingers finding the strings attached to the back of her dress. She'd changed out of the dress she had married him in and wore a very simple, yet very elegant blue dress. It was a requirement that the bride wore something that was blue on her wedding, and even though this was not the dress she had married him in, it _was_ her favorite color.

"But your church will condemn me to Hell; they already hate me and wouldn't let you marry me!"

"For my beloved, to Hell gladly, I'd go. I love you and that's all that matters."

Gar ran his fingers through her hair. He'd wanted this for as long as he could remember, but had always restrained himself around her.

"Gar, there is something I need to tell you," she whispered nervously.

"It can wait," he told her, his breathing was ragged. He was teetering on the edge of control.

"Then I have another question," Raven whispered.

"What is it?" he replied.

"Did Terra…tolerate your sins?" she asked, as she felt a blush come to her face.

"No, she _enjoyed_ them with me," he murmured, pulling her to him. His mouth found hers and before she lost all coherent thought and vaguely heard him say, "And so will you."

_**Author's Notes:**_

_No lemon for you! At least not written by me anyway (it would suck, seriously). DarkRapture called dibs on it so go check his profile._

_*King Solomon really did have 700 wives. That's one and ¾ years of weddings. And that's if he had a wedding PER DAY. That's a whole lot of sex. ERRGH, how'd he keep track of them all? Then you have to deal with 700 mothers-in-laws._

_*****__ Rings were rare and not cheap. Instead of rings they used broken coins as a symbol of marriage. _

_*****__ I read somewhere that a suit of armor cost the equivalent of $60,000.00._

_RomeoXJuliet has the greatest pickup lines I've ever heard. That's where the wedding vows come from. The falling kiss is not my idea at all, nor is it anything I came up with go to YouTube and check out the RomeoXJuliet Trailer. Most epic falling kiss EVER._

_Before anyone criticizes me for "shoving abstinence on you", I just want to point out that even without a religious belief system, practicing abstinence means you don't get STDs, unwanted pregnancies, you don't have your significant other going, "You slept with someone else before me!" and it really _does_ work. My brother and sister-in-law waited until they were married, AND THEY'RE HAPPY THEY DID!_

_Raven would be real hesitant about sex, considering her origin, being conceived through rape, and in context of the story, Gar would not treat her like he just fell in love with her as an excuse to have sex. _


	12. Chapter 11: And Finding Answers

**Chapter Eleven: And Finding Answers**

_**Author's Notes:**_

_This Fanfic is dedicated to__** DarkRapture**__, who understands why I've written certain characters the way I have, and doesn't get bent out of shape over plot points._

_longliveteentitans, you have no idea what you're talking about. I am the author of the story and I know exactly what I'm doing with _my own_ story. You've never written anything, so you don't know how hard it is to make up a good story. If you don't like this, stop reading and go write your own stories._

_Someone said the abstinence in my story is not really realistic, well then, my brother and his wife must not be realistic either 'cause they waited, and my brother is one good looking guy (everybody says he's hot, even I think he's hot, you know what I mean) and his wife, my sister-in-law is gorgeous. Since they waited, they must not be realistic people either! *sarcasm*_

_If you wanna stop reading because you didn't like chapter ten, go right ahead. You'll be missing out on a great story. As chapter ten is _not_ the main theme of this story, it is relevant, but not what this story is about, got it? Good, now enjoy chapter eleven._

_

* * *

_

Raven stirred from sleep and looked up at her husband. A small smile slipped across her face. He had made good on his promises and it had been the most blissful experience in her life. They were covered in blankets, their clothes in a small pile beside them.

She sighed contentedly. God could keep her out of Heaven for all she cared, especially since Gar could take her there himself.

She felt a little sore, but it wasn't anything her powers couldn't heal. Raven sighed. She leaned against his sleeping form, wondering if she should wake him.

"You woke up," Gar's voice whispered in her ear.

"You're awake," she said, surprised. "I thought you were still asleep."

"I like watching you sleep. You look so peaceful."

"Thanks. Last night was incredible," Raven tried not to think about it, the memories might just drive her to make love to him again, and they both knew they were too tired for that.

"I love you. Why didn't you tell me you were a virgin?" he asked.

"I tried to, but you wouldn't let me." This was an uncomfortable conversation.

"I'm glad he had no heart and soul. How could he not even consummate his marriage with you?"

"It's not a requirement, you know," she told him.

"I know that, all the same, I'm glad he didn't. I'm your first and your last. There will be no one else but you."

"Are you lying to me, Garfield?" Raven asked. Malchior had said something similar, but everyone knew he never intended to keep that promise.

"Why would I need a mistress when I have you?"

"Do you really mean that?" Raven was used to empty words and empty promises. But Garfield, he was so different from Malchior; she knew he would never break his promises. Still, to hear him say it was very comforting to her.

"Yes, Rae, I mean it. Every word," Gar promised. He pulled on his clothes and left to go get the food he had packed in Cielo's saddlebags.

Raven dressed herself and Gar joined her. They ate breakfast and lay in the field of irises, just content to be together and gazed up at the sky.

"Wedded bliss," Gar sighed. "It's been far too long since I felt like this."

"So this is what it feels like," Raven commented. "I didn't know it was supposed to be like this."

"Malchior didn't deserve you. If he were truly clever, he would have kept up the pretense of a happy marriage with you to keep you in the dark about his extramarital affairs."

Raven knew that Gar was right. Raven reflected on the two men in her life. Malchior was cruel and manipulative, while Gar was kind and let her make her own choices.

The fact that Gar had controlled his desires for her surprised Raven. Surely he could have had a mistress or even seduced her without any intent to marry her if he had wanted to. But that was how Malchior was, and if Gar had done that, the only difference would be that they would have been in love.

Malchior treated Raven like most men treated women, like they were only there to procreate and have children*****, but he hadn't even slept with her, which made her feel even worse about it.

If he had acted that way, wouldn't he have been the same as Malchior? Raven frowned. Perhaps waiting for her was his way of showing her that he really loved her, and didn't see her as some sort of prize as a result of his scheming to overthrow and kill Malchior.

From what she knew of her late and despicable husband, he would seduce the wives of his knights while they were away and when a large battle conveniently took place, he would make sure that they were killed. Not that it would be linked directly to him, but even if the women refused at first, they eventually ended up in his bed as he "comforted the widow".

It was sickening. She was grateful that Gar wasn't that way. He hadn't intended to fall in love with her. He also treated her like she was the most precious thing to him, and that made her love him even more.

Malchior might have been a cruel, ruthless tyrant, but he was in no way clever. If Malchior had a little more cunning and guile in him he might have tried to hide his flaws and vices and would have kept her close by his side, as a way to make certain that she would have killed Gar and avenged him.

She wondered, if Malchior had controlled himself, if he had truly loved her, despite all of his cruelty to the people, would Terra have lived with Gar in happiness or would Gar have been the one to die, fighting the evil tyrant?

But much to Raven's relief, it hadn't turned out that way at all, still, to have suffered the loss of loved ones, was a terrible thing to experience.

"I'm glad that he wasn't that way. I wouldn't have met you otherwise."

"Well, I have to go away for a little bit." Gar rose to his feet.

"Where are you going?" Raven asked.

"To let Cielo graze, I had to keep him from eating too much grass last night or he'll get fat.*****"

"I see," Raven watch Gar let the horse graze for awhile and then she remembered there was something they needed to get from her old house back in Nol.

Raven saddled the horse and climbed up on Cielo.

"Where are we going?" Gar inquired. Apparently, she had somewhere she wanted to go. It would be nice for him to take a journey; it had been a long time since he'd gotten to go anywhere.

"Nol, I want to get some things from my old house."

"All right then, we'll go," he joined her and they made their way to Nol. Garfield observed the villagers and noticed they didn't seem to recognize or acknowledge Raven. He felt a sense of relief. She had told him the story of how she had used her powers to help the people of the village and was attacked by them, and rescued by Malchior.

He supposed that because she had been away for many years that the villagers had forgotten all about her. At least she could come and go freely without being harassed or persecuted here.

Gar sighed, sometimes he missed the simple life. But he knew the path he had chosen wouldn't be easy or simple. He'd chosen the hardest path anyone could choose, but all the same, he was happy he had. His short life had been an eventful one, and he hoped to have a good long life for the forseeable future.

He hadn't ever been to Nol, he had not participated in the invasion when Kori had conquered the town. The citizens had rebuilt after the knights had defected from Malchior's army to his army, and then they had helped rebuild the village and had fortified it to protect themselves from Viking raiding parties.

Nol had been rebuilt and the people were happy. Despite all the horrors of war, they had recovered. Gar was relieved and he hoped that the entire country would get back on its feet again.

"We're going to your house right?" he asked.

"Yes," Raven answered.

They arrived at Raven's abandoned house and she went inside to gather up some dresses and some of her old manuscripts. She grabbed the Galleon Scrolls, they were what she had read often when she was with Malchior and she knew they held important information. Mainly about the Philosopher's Stone and she knew she would need that information to harness its power, although she had no idea what she was going to do with it.

"This is your house; I didn't really look around the last time I was here."

"That's true, but I don't think I'll ever come back," Raven looked over at Gar. "I've had enough of the past. I'm getting up and moving forward with my life."

Gar smiled at her. "Are you ready to leave?"

She returned his gaze. It was time to leave this place.

"Yes, I'm ready," she gathered the rest of her things and as she walked out of her house and never looked back. She was leaving her old life with Malchior behind forever. There was no going back to the past now.

They began traveling back to Jump Estate. Every once in awhile, Gar would stop to let Cielo graze and drink water. It took them three days to get back to the estate. Garfield hadn't said much, but after a long while of nothing but silence, he spoke.

"I'm leaving the church, Raven," Gar told her quietly.

This was an unexpected turn of events. He wasn't just an ordinary citizen wanting to leave the Catholic Church; he was the ruler of an entire country. So this was going to have major repercussions, very negative repercussions.

"What happened to your belief in your Christ and the saints and all that?" she asked.

"I still believe in Him, but I do think it's wrong for them to treat you so horribly. They didn't even want me to marry you, and I was trying to follow their rules too."

"They don't really follow the teachings of their God do they?" she asked.

"Some of them do, like Father Norman, he has been gone for some time; he is a member of the Lollardy movement***. **I heard went into hiding after the church threatened to burn him at the stake. "

"Never heard of it," Raven told him, she really didn't know what it was.

"The movement believes that the Church is corrupt and that belief comes from our Scriptures, and not from an interpretation of them."

"That's good," she had to wonder if the church would declare war on him for heresy though.

"Honestly, I don't know if I can believe in anything anymore," he sighed. "I've already told them I renounced my faith in Catholicism*****. I won't ever set foot in that church again. Especially after what they did to you."

Garfield had been gone for two weeks. He had decided that he was going to leave the Catholic Church. They weren't going to stop him. He'd heard of the Lollardy movement and how they opposed the church but had no central belief system besides the basic teachings of Christianity and the belief that the church was corrupt.

That suited him just fine, he had learned to read the Bible for himself, and he believed what it said and not what someone else interpreted it to be. But all that aside, it wasn't fair the way they treated Raven. They didn't know her actual heritage but if they had learned they would have killed her. He didn't care about any of that, but the fact that the church oppressed its own followers made him wonder why he believed in Catholicism in the first place.

He had made his decision; he would forsake his Catholicism and become a non-practicing Christian. He just couldn't stand having to adhere to rules that were made up by men who made the Scriptures into whatever they wanted it to.

Perhaps, if the church managed to fix all the things that were wrong with it, maybe he'd go back, but he had a feeling it wasn't going to happen in his lifetime.

Better to be considered an agnostic rather than a heretic.

He put all those thoughts out of his mind as the castle came into view.

"Home at last!" he said as he halted his horse in the court yard and helped Raven dismount. A page led Cielo back to his stable.

The guards were surprised to see her. Eyes went wide as they saw the rings on both their fingers. The whispers began. The rumors had spread throughout the castle that their king intended to marry his tutor. They had seen quite clearly that Raven had no political ambitions and that she had no allegiance to her former husband Malchior. The fact that he taken leave of them for a fortnight gave them a sign that he hadn't asked her to go with him for nothing. One of the knights stepped forward.

"My Liege, did you…marry her?" The knight inquired. Garfield nodded.

Much to Raven's surprise and relief, the knights began to cheer. They admired her, they had all heard of her brave attempt to rescue their king when he had been wounded while trying to quell the rage of the peasants. They knew she had helped Kori remove the arrow and that she was not an evil person.

Many of them had known Terra, they could see the similarities between the two, and it pleased them that someone so powerful was on their side, she had also helped Kori heal some of them, although they were sworn to secrecy, considering the fact that Raven used her powers.

"They don't hate me," Raven whispered quietly to her husband.

"Of course not, you've helped them. Why would they hate you?"

They headed inside. Kori, Richard, and Victor were waiting for them.

"Welcome home!" Kori exclaimed, pulling Raven into a strong hug. "Congratulations!"

"Thank you, Kori," Raven smiled. She guessed that they'd known all along that Gar was planning to marry her, but they couldn't be there for obvious reasons. Someone had to watch over the peasants while Gar was away.

"I hope you two will be very happy together," Richard said.

"I'm sure we will," Gar was smiling. They hadn't seen him so happy in a long time and it felt like when they had first set out together on all their adventures.

"Ah, welcome home, Lord Garfield." Victor greeted his friend. "How was your honeymoon?"

"Fine," Garfield replied.

"I made you both something, to welcome you and your wife home. Raven, she's happy isn't she?" Victor queried.

"Oh yes, she's quite happy," Garfield said, smiling.

"Here's my gift to the two of you, since there was no public wedding celebration," Victor ushered them both into the feasting hall.

Raven saw that the table was set with plates of breakfast food, but there as a plate full of strange looking bread that had holes in it.

"What is that?" Raven asked.

"It's waffles!" Victor exclaimed. "These aren't just your average church made waffles*****, this is my special flour mixed waffles!"

"You've never had waffles have you?" Garfield asked.

"No, I haven't," Raven replied. They certainly did look rather interesting; she hoped they tasted as good as they looked.

"Pomegranate syrup, put this one it," Gar suggested, handing it to her. She put it on and used the knife to cut it in pieces and began eating it by grabbing it with her fingers*****.

"This is delicious!" she said. "These came from the Church?"

"Not the waffles, but how they were invented did," Victor said. "You two enjoy breakfast."

"I see," Raven said as they continued eating, Richard and Victor joined them and they finished breakfast.

They got up and made their way into a hallway, Garfield was heading toward the throne room to attend to his duties, but Raven suddenly grabbed his hand and stopped him.

"When are you going to make a public announcement about our marriage?" Raven stared at him. He was going to have to deal with this sooner or later.

"We'll tell the peasants in a few weeks," Garfield reassured her.

"Are you sure we weren't rash, getting married? What if the peasants come after me again?"

"I will protect you, no matter what," Gar kissed her gently. "And why would we be rash? We've known each other for awhile."

"It's not that I regret this decision, but what about the consequences?" Raven asked.

"I'm not worried about it," Garfield smiled. "I'll deal with all of it soon enough."

Deep underground, in the remains of Malchior's castle, two figures sat in a dark, dimly lit corner where a man had his arms wrapped in bandages. He was screaming in agony as another man, Mikron, fused Malchior's arms to his body.

"It hurts!" Adonis roared in agony as Mikron began the painful process of attaching Malchior's arms to the stumps of his elbows. They had gone to Malchior's grave and dug up the body. Mikron had amputated the arms and was using magic to attach them to Adonis' body.

"You want revenge don't you, you gong muncher?" Mikron said sarcastically.

"If I didn't, I wouldn't be attaching Malchior's arms to my body now would I?" Adonis' voice dripped with malice.

"Then deal with it and stop mewing like a dying animal," Mikron scowled.

"Shut up, you moron," Adonis snarled. Mikron glared at him angrily.

_It's nice to see that you made the right decision to join me. When I return I will have my revenge. _Malchior's voice was smug.

"I'm looking forward to the day I can wipe that smug smile off Lord Garfield's face," Adonis grunted. "And that witch Raven, I can't believe he fell in love with her too!"

_Oh really? _Malchior was curious. Raven didn't know he wasn't quite dead. He could use this to his advantage. After all, she was still in love with him, wasn't she? The sweet girl was just a puppet on a string for him to play with. It would be amusing to think of how she'd react to his return.

"_Do you know if she returned these feelings?" _Malchior was curious. Anything he could use to his advantage was worth discovering.

"Apparently, she did," Adonis informed him. "I have heard that some of the peasants revolted after they were spotted kissing by a farmer."

"_Amusing," _Malchior chuckled. _"So she's in love with him, then."_

"What does this stupid krape have to do with anything important?" Mikron asked as he continued casting spells to force Adonis' body to accept Malchior's arms and magical capacity. Adonis was too focused on his rage to even feel pain at this point. He continued his mental conversation with Malchior.

Malchior was a little more than astonished that Raven had fallen in love with the simple, foolish Lord Garfield. That was an unexpected change, but it was a welcome one, revenge would be even sweeter now that he knew he had something else to hold over Raven to bend her to his will. He was sick of pretending to love her anyway.

"_I want you to find out all you can about Lord Garfield's relationship with my sweet Raven. After all, finding answers is the most important thing right now. We are not ready to strike. Have patience, we'll strike when the time is right. Let them be happy for awhile, it just makes the pain and loss we'll deal them even more satisfactory than if I just rush in and attack them now."_

"That witch will pay for humiliating me. If Lord Garfield hadn't felt sorry for her, I would still be in his favor. If he hadn't felt that idiotic sense of honor and chivalry that he parades around, I wouldn't be in this position."

"I want all the power you can give me, Malchior," Adonis told the evil sorcerer. "I'll see to it that you are avenged!"

"_Very good,"_ Malchior told him. _"I was hoping you'd say that. Now I will teach you many powerful spells and sorcery. With it, you can fight Raven to a standstill and defeat her with my overwhelming power."_

"Teach me everything you know."

* * *

_*** **__My mom has a horse and she really has to put them in a round pen so they don't eat too much, get fat, and then get sick._

_* This was a common belief back then, it's rather sad, really._

_* The Lollards were a movement that was the precursor of the Protestant Reformation._

_* I have nothing against Catholics. If you're Catholic, please don't be offended. My favorite fantasy author is J.R.R. Tolkien and he was a Catholic._

_*** **__Yes, they did have waffles, but they made them with barley and oats not flour. Churches made waffles and they had competitions that got…violent._

_*****__ Forks weren't invented back then, so you ate with your fingers._


	13. Chapter 12: Is Forgetting

**Chapter Twelve: Is forgetting all of the Questions we called Home**

_**Author's Notes: **__Nga Aroha, I'm ignoring you from now on, stop leaving reviews on the abstinence subject, that part of the fic is over, seriously, get over it. I wrote it for historical accuracy and characterization for Garfield to show that he's not a jerk like Malchior and that he didn't fall in love with Raven to treat her like he killed Malchior to get her as part of a Uriah Gambit to get her to sleep with him. I could try to explain further, but you won't get it. _

_As for being "screwed over" by abstinence, people who end up with STDs after they supposedly practiced "abstinence" got them because they think that as long as it's not the actual act that they won't get them. You get STDs through other sex acts besides actually having sex. People don't get that in order for it to work they have to practice sexual abstinence completely not thinking that just because you don't actually have intercourse that it's practicing sexual abstinence. Seriously, get off the subject. This is the last author's note I'm leaving you. Since you apparently don't really like this story as much as you say you do, either stop reading or stop getting hung up on this subject, 'cause you're really annoying me._

_This chapter is dedicated to my dog Libby who had to be put to sleep on Saturday 6/2/2010. **R.I.P. Libby, April 15, 1996-June 5, 2010**. Love you so much Libby. Best dog in the world. I cried when she went, it was horrible. *Author needs hugs*  
_

_Also, I'll probably be able to do one more chapter after this one before I go on vacation. When I get back I'll write more._

_

* * *

_

Raven was leaning comfortably into Garfield's warm embrace; he'd done nothing but stand there and hug her for the last few minutes. He always took time out of his busy day to come and make sure she was doing well.

"Everything fine?" Garfield asked.

"I'm all right," Raven sighed, leaning into his embrace. "You should go back; they need you to work after all."

"Reading and signing edicts? It can wait. I want to spend time with you." He gently kissed her cheeks and hugged her.

"Everyone in this castle might know we're married but all the other Lords and peasants don't."

"you always tell me that whenever we're together."

"I say it because it needs to happen."

"And I must tell you again that I'll tell them very soon."

"You always like to procrastinate."

Gar laughed. "Yes, I do. But not in everything."

"I see," Raven laughed.

"You should go," she told him.

"I really don't want to," Gar looked at her. He hated being away from her.

"But you have to," Raven pressed her lips to his in a searing kiss.

"You shouldn't have done that. Now I _really_ don't want to have to go spend time signing stupid edicts and meeting with other Lords and dealing with diplomacy."

"It's not like you won't be able to see me, you act like I'm going to leave you or something."

"I just want to spend time with you. Maybe I should send them away," Gar suggested.

"No, you can't do that, you'll arouse suspicion, and you probably should go."

"As you wish, my Lady, but don't think I'm going to forget about this conversation. " Gar gave her a smile and walked off.

Raven smiled to herself as he left. He was still a little lazy at heart, despite everything she taught him about hard work. Not that he didn't know what hard work was of course; but he did tend to procrastinate whenever he got the chance.

Raven began walking down the hall when she came across a Gothic sculpture of a couple holding hands. It was very simple and she recognized one of the figures in it as Gar.

"This must be Terra," Raven said. "So that's what she looked like."

Garfield had once told her that Terra had blonde hair and blue eyes. If this sculpture was as close to what she truly looked like, it didn't surprise Raven why Garfield had fallen in love with her. She was beautiful. Raven couldn't help but admire her. It wasn't fair when good people died for no reason.

Raven turned and left, she needed to meditate, it helped her regain her focus and helped her learn more about the Philosopher's Stone, that she had once again begun wearing; she didn't feel it was safe in the castle treasure vaults.

Unbeknownst to her, Garfield had been watching her as she paused in front of the sculpture he had commissioned in memory of Terra.

He smiled. Gar didn't want to forget the times he shared with Terra, even though he was very happy with Raven, Terra still meant a lot to him, the memories of her remained and he felt it was just yesterday when they had begun traveling together. Who would believe that it had been seven years since they all had met?

* * *

_Garfield, Victor and Terra were walking through the woods when they heard shouting coming from some distance away from them. Gar spotted a large group of soldiers surrounding two individuals, a knight and a woman in a torn up dress. She was wielding a battle axe with such skill that Garfield was frightened by her deadly grace and precision. She kept dispatching her foes, knocking them off their feet and decapitating them when she could. _

_The knight with her was just as fierce, hacking and slashing and cutting down all who came near him. _

_Garfield, Victor, and Terra all rushed to their aid. Victor shot one of the knights with a crossbow and then he unsheathed his sword and attacked them. Terra summoned her powers and sent a shower of rocks slamming hard into the other soldiers. The rocks went straight through the openings in their armor and into their skin like small arrows. They reeled back in pain and fell to the ground where they were decapitated by Garfield. _

_Richard kicked a knight in the stomach, it didn't actually injure him but it was enough to throw him off guard. Richard flipped up the knight's visor and stabbed him in the face. Kori kept beating off her attackers with the axe until she cut through the leather in their armor and incapacitated her pursuers before she finished them off._

_Garfield stared at Richard. Richard remembered the young man who had fashioned a sword for King Malchior._

"_I thank you for your help," Richard said to Garfield. "You're an arming squire, aren't you?"_

"_Yeah, it's horrible," Garfield said to him. "You would not believe how disgusting it is. I have to clean everyone's gong and urine out if it after I get it off them__*****__." _

"_Garfield that's disgusting!" Terra exclaimed. _

"_Yeah, I know, but that's the job they gave me. Unfortunately, the knight I was serving died in battle."_

"_Well, I have no squire, I could use your help, but if you use your urine to clean my armor, I will _kill _you." Richard gave him a stern look._

"_But it helps," Garfield protested._

"_I'd rather have slightly less shiny armor than have it grand looking and have to deal with the horrible smell of urine," Richard told him. "As long as we're clear on that, you'll be fine."_

"_Who are your friends?" Richard looked at Terra and Victor._

"_This is Terra," he gestured to her. "And this is Victor. I'm Garfield." _

"_Well Garfield, I am Sir Richard. Victor, you're a Moor?" Richard was curious. He was not racist like many of the knights around him. He had been a gypsy in his youth and had traveled across the country as a traveling performer. He had been adopted by Lord Wayne after his parents were murdered after they would not pay the evil Baron Zucco a bribe in exchange for his protection._

_He had left Lord Wayne in search of adventure when he had found Kori, fighting for her life. He had helped her escape and they were trying to leave the country of Gordania when they had encountered Garfield, Victor, and Terra._

"_Yes. What's it to you?" Victor was a little wary of strangers as his people tended to be persecuted either for the color of their skin or their religious beliefs._

"_Nothing, means absolutely nothing to me. This is Kori, the younger princess of the Kingdom of Tamaran."_

"_It is nice to meet all of you," Kori said politely. _

"_Likewise," Terra smiled. Kori took Terra's hand and smile. _

"_We are heading to King Malchior's camp," Garfield told Richard._

"_That's good. I was heading that way myself." Richard was happy. He remembered Garfield from when he had gone to Jump Estate. Despite the difference in rank and class, he felt he had found a friend._

_Garfield watched Kori and Terra as they talked and the five of them headed back to Malchior's camp. It was time that they got to where they were going to and they were ready for anything._

Raven sat in their bedchamber, quietly reading over the Galleon Scrolls, trying to discover anything about the Philosopher's Stone. She knew she would have to learn everything about it; her knowledge was limited as she had no interest in the powerful magical artifact. Still, the truth of its existence would eventually be revealed then all kinds of people would come for it. Sorcerers, alchemists, adventurers, knights, powerful Lords, they would all try to take it from her, so she would have to be one step ahead of all of them. Hence, the tedious task of searching for answers and forgetting meaningless questions.

She heard the door open but continued reading until she saw a hand gently move the scrolls away from her eyes.

"Are you too busy for me, Raven?" Garfield asked.

She set down the scroll and met his gaze.

"No, not at all," answered Raven as he bent down and kissed her.

"That's good; I'm finally finished with all those obnoxious windbags." He gave her a smile.

Garfield pulled Raven up out of the chair she was sitting in and kissed her as he led her over to their bed. His fingers worked their way through her hair and removed her blue cloak. He tossed it aside and planted kisses on both sides of her neck.

Raven sighed as her eyes shut. By Azar, Gar was wonderful. Garfield laughed quietly. If it were up to him, he'd spend all his time with her, but he had other responsibilities. Still, he'd put up with all of it as long as she was with him.

With her, he could just be Garfield Logan, companion, husband and lover. He didn't have to be dignified and high and mighty. Not that he _liked _acting that way, but he had to show other Lords he wasn't a pushover. He didn't want the other Lords to think they could use him to further their own agendas.

Still, when he was with Raven, he didn't have to pretend to be anyone else. He gently stroked her cheek and kissed her lips, only parting to catch his breath, Raven returned his kisses with all the fervor she had.

"You're just insatiable, aren't you?" Raven asked, the anticipation was agonizing.

"So are you," laughed Garfield. "I can see it in your eyes. I have heard that it's women who can't control their desires*****." He reached around and shut the curtains around the bed. It was dark outside, but he didn't want anyone to walk in on them.

"I think you're wrong," Raven retorted playfully. "I think _you're_ the one who can't get enough of _me_."

Garfield leaned her back so she was lying down. "I do believe you're right."

"You shouldn't have worn such nice clothes," Raven teased as she ran his fingers up his clothed chest.

"Why is that?" Garfield was curious.

"Because I'm probably going to tear them apart," Raven began pulling at his shirt. Garfield could hear it ripping and he chuckled. Terra had never torn his clothes before. He let out a startled gasp as Raven reverse their position so she was on top of him.

Gar smiled sweetly up at her and he began removing Raven's dress.

"You're beautiful," he whispered.

"You're sweet," Raven murmured as her mouth found his and he willingly followed her into a state of euphoria.

* * *

Adonis swung his sword, clashing with Mikron as they sparred in their underground hideaway. Adonis had learned to use magic spells as well as improve his skills in swordplay. He was confident he could fight Lord Garfield to a standstill.

"Keep your guard up you krape wad," Mikron taunted. "You won't be able to win just by mindlessly swinging that sword around."

"I thought I was doing that," Adonis shot back.

"Well you're not," Mikron said as he gave Adonis a small cut on his cheek. "If I can cut you without even trying imagine what Lord Garfield will do to you if you fight him."

"RAAAAH!" Adonis let loose a furious shout and attacked Mikron with reckless abandon. He rained down fierce blows on his sparring partner. Mikron sneered at Adonis' lack of control and viciously attacked Adonis, kicking him and punching him until he couldn't hold up against the bombardment of his blade.

"See? You're nowhere near ready to face Lord Garfield," Mikron chided.

"_Have patience, Adonis," _Malchior told him. _"You are not yet ready to strike. You need to learn more magic. I will teach you the spells of __O'Riordan the Strange__."_

"Soon, very soon. I'll have my revenge," Adonis rubbed his hands together eagerly. "I'm looking forward to this. Just a little while longer..."

Malchior was eager to enact his revenge, but he knew he couldn't do that yet. He had heard rumors that Raven and Garfield were married, but had not told the peasants. It would be interesting and entertaining to see the peasants' revolt against their master and king.

His thoughts turned to Raven. Sweet Raven, he had to wonder if she still had feelings for him. It was going to be easy to manipulate her to once again back into his arms. Once his return was complete he would enjoy taking her away from Garfield. At first, after Terra's death he'd been mortified that he had murdered the object of his lust, but eventually, he came to enjoy his conflict with Lord Garfield. He secretly reveled in trying to come up with ways to make his life even more miserable.

Now he didn't care about anything more than getting his revenge. He only needed to bide his time. Perhaps the peasants would kill Garfield after they discovered his marriage to Raven.

Malchior smiled. He need only to wait a little while longer. That peasant churl who fancied himself a king would pay dearly and his sweet revenge wouldn't last long enough. Soon he would take back everything that was his, and he wouldn't be satisfied until Garfield was dead.

Raven lay amongst the sheets, feeling the warmth of Gar's body beside hers. She was truly happy and it wasn't the first time she was thankful to whoever brought Garfield into her life, whether it was God or Fate, she didn't care. She had him, and that was all that mattered to her.

If Garfield somehow lost his royal title, it wouldn't matter, if all his wealth vanished and they became poor and destitute, it wouldn't matter. As long as she had him, she had all the happiness in the world. She hadn't felt such joy in years. Not even when she had shared her first kiss with Malchior had she felt such bliss.

She wanted to treasure these moments, lock them away in her heart to ponder them. Raven had always wanted love and acceptance, and she thought she had found it in Malchior, only to discover that everything she believed about him was a horrible twisted illusion.

She was quiet and reserved in public, only opening up to those she was close to. He was open and outgoing. She tended to think before acting, and he tended to act without thinking. Garfield was her polar opposite and yet, she _needed_ him with her. These types of relationships didn't always work out the way people wanted, but they seemed to know and understand each other very well. They had spent hours talking about everything, learning to understand each other. They talked often and knew more about each other than even Victor, Kori and Richard did.

Raven ran her fingers over the scar on Garfield's chest. It was the one he had told her about, the one he had received during his confrontation with Malchior.

She shuddered to think about what would have become of her if Garfield had lost that fight and had been killed. What horrible things would he have done to her if he had won? She tried to put it out of her mind when Gar opened his eyes.

"That's the one that Malchior gave me, but I told you that once, a long time ago."

"Yes, but I didn't believe you. I'm sorry," Raven apologized.

"Of course you didn't, you were angry and hated me because you thought he was still good because of what he said to you."

"Yes, he promised me he would make love to me when he returned. It was the one thing I always wanted from him."

Garfield was thoughtful as he reached out and ran his fingers through her hair. "You thought he was sincere. That he was going to change himself for you. That he really did love you and wanted to make you happy."

"Yes," Raven leaned into his arms.

"You didn't tell me that on our wedding night," observed Garfield, "But I suppose it was for the best. It's still dark out, go to sleep."

"I love you, Garfield."

"I know." The answer was very simple, but very meaningful.

"Good night, Raven," Garfield yawned and drifted off to sleep. Raven dozed off beside him; her dreams were of him and only him. Her dead husband was nothing more than a distant memory.

The next day, Raven sat cross-legged and quietly began to meditate. To her surprise, the voices of the souls inside of the Philosopher's Stone were silent. They weren't screaming at her like they normally did.

"_Hello Raven," _a voice spoke to her, Raven looked around. She wondered who it was; there was no one with her.

"_Who are you?"_ she asked in mentally, not wanting to speak aloud.

"_Just a lonely soul who wants to talk,"_ it replied. Raven was a little startled. The voice was female.

"_You're one of the souls inside the Philosopher's Stone?"_ Raven asked. None of them had ever tried to talk to her before.

"_You could say that,"_ the girl replied.

"_Did you live in Kravia?"_ Raven queried.

"_No, I lived in many places, but I lived here for five years."_

"_Sounds nice, so you had friends here."_

"_Yes, I had the best friend anyone could ever have,"_ she replied.

"_Could I ask you your name?" _

"_Not just yet. There's somewhere I want you to go," the voice told her._

"_Where?"_ Raven asked.

"_Over to a pond near the castle, there's a field of irises there."_

"_I've been there, but why there?"_ Raven was curious.

"_I want you to get to know me a little better."_

Raven headed to the pond and found the field of irises; she sat down cross-legged among the flowers and began meditating.

"Azarath, Metrion, Zinthos," she chanted, and her surroundings fell away, she wasn't really anywhere now, just a wide open white space. Usually, the souls in the Philosophers Stone would be there, crying and screaming in agony, but for the first time, it was quiet. Raven realized that there was a presence behind her and was about to turn around to look at it when the figure spoke again.

"_It's nice that you actually want to talk to me,"_ she said. _"All the screaming, it never stops."_

Raven frowned, _"How can you retain your identity inside there?" _

"_Let's just say, when I died, I really didn't want to, and I was very angry when it happened. Been angry at my murderer ever since."_

"What were you so angry about?" Raven inquired.

"_The fact that I died, and the fact that my baby died with me," _the voice said_. "Worst of all, I had to leave Gar behind, and I hated that the most."_

Raven started. Garfield, no one called him Gar except his close friends.

"_You're Terra, aren't you?"_ Raven need confirmation.

"_None other,"_ Terra replied.

This was going to be a very_ interesting_ conversation.

* * *

***** _That's basically been the belief regarding women and sex drives from like Bible times, and it's only recently that it's been gender flipped._

_* An arming squire really had to clean their knight's armor and what they used to clean it was sand and vinegar, if you wanted to clean it better, you used urine. Nasty._

_**SokkaStyle**, it usually takes me a day to write a chapter, depending on what ideas are in my head and research I have to do. Research time varies, depending on the subject, I've had to watch some documentaries on the medieval period on YouTube and that's taken a few hours. But it's interesting so it's not boring to me. Usually if it's just looking up stuff, it takes about twenty minutes._


	14. Chapter 13: Passing the Graves

**Chapter Thirteen: Passing the Graves of the Unknown**

_**Author's Notes: **__I've been on vacation and haven not been writing, so this story might slow down quite a bit, in the meantime, if you want to read another BB/Rae Fic I wrote, read "Requiem for Methuselah", it's another brilliant idea that I came up with, but it's rated M for gore._

"How did you get in there?" Raven asked. "You died before the Philosopher's Stone was created."

"You're the sorceress, you tell me," Terra actually turned to face her. To Raven's surprise, she was dressed in travelers clothes, she was wearing simple attire and had a smile on her face.

"He bury you in those?" Raven asked.

"That's your first question?" Terra laughed. "Well I guess your answer is yes."

"Tell me, has he been well since I've been dead?" Terra asked.

"Gar has been well yes," Raven looked at her, unsure of what she should say to Terra. She knew that Terra had loved Gar deeply, and that they had been very happy together. Needless to say, it wasn't fair that she had been murdered by Malchior, her former husband. Still, they were both connected to each other through Gar, and she felt she should give Terra some closure.

"It took me a year to regain my identity inside this Hell," Terra said. "I don't remember much after I died or how I got here, so I don't know much about your life before recently, I guess I remember your name because he spent so much time with you. How did he find you?"

"He brought me back here as a servant," Raven told her.

"So you lived in Malchior's house, what were you, his servant?" Terra asked.

"His wife," Raven replied.

Terra gawked at her. "You can't be serious. I never saw you once when I was there."

"I wasn't there, I was gone," Raven looked at Terra and was unsure of what to say. "I found him with someone else so I left, hoping that he would apologize."

"I'm sure you knew his reputation, and you should have known that he would never apologize to you. He only cared about himself."

"I know that, but I still wanted to believe that he loved me. It was the last thing he ever told me."

"I'm sure that was a lie," Terra told her.

"Yes, it was," Raven agreed, "Still, I wanted to believe it."

"So what happened between you and Gar?" Terra was curious, after all, you didn't always get to speak with your former husband's new wife every day.

"He fell in love with me. At first, I didn't return his feelings because I thought that he saw me as some kind of prize. I offered to tutor him, teach him what he would need to know in order to rule this country. He accepted, that surprised me."

"I tried to teach him once, it was like teaching a brick wall," Terra's laugh made Raven smile.

"At first I thought I was growing fond of him, and then I discovered what he'd done in the war against Malchior, I thought he sacrificed his soldiers to win and I thought that he was the same."

"We fought, and it was during that fight that he first kissed me, it was a little while after that when I discovered how Malchior really felt about me. Gar brought me back and we married after awhile."

"I see. He's come a long way since I knew him," Terra smiled. "When I knew him, he didn't believe in falling in love, said he didn't understand it."

Raven was surprised, from what she knew about Gar and Terra's relationship, she knew they had loved each other deeply. To think that Gar didn't believe in romantic love at one point in his life startled her.

"From the way he acts now, I find it hard to believe that he could be skeptical about love," Raven looked at Terra. "He loves me very much. He's everything I ever wanted, what I wanted Malchior to be."

"I'm glad he found you, he needs someone to keep him in line," Terra felt at peace with what had become of Gar. She had hated the thought of him being alone, with no one as a companion and helper. That he had found one in an unlikely source, the wife of the man he'd taken revenge on was strange and yet fitting. She had always told him that if she died, she would want him to be happy. And he'd found happiness, and that made her feel at peace more than anything else.

"Then you don't hate me for marrying him?" Raven inquired.

"No, of course not. I always told him that if I died, I would want him to find someone and be happy with them. It's not like I can come back to life," Terra was resigned to her fate, and she was satisfied with how things had turned out for Gar, and she cherished their life together, it had been enough for her.

"Malchior didn't deserve someone like you," Terra commented. Raven agreed with her.

"Garfield told me that too," Raven frowned a little.

"I understand why he loves you," Terra gave her a smile. "You're like me, someone with gifts no one else can understand. He loves you very much, maybe even more than he loved me."

"Don't say that, he still loves you, not a day doesn't go by that he doesn't think about you, or talk about you."

"It's true though," Terra insisted. "I taught him how to love and care for others and he took what he learned from me and gave it to you, and that makes me happy. I know I won't ever see him again, but at least I'll know that he will spend the rest of his life with someone who will always be there for him."

"I am happy with him; he's the most wonderful person I've ever known," Raven admitted.

"Yes, he is, I know you're married now, so is he still wonderful in bed?" Terra asked. Raven blushed.

"Yes," she replied.

"I haven't forgotten all those nights we had together, I practically lived in my bed."

Raven laughed. "I guess I have a lot to look forward to."

"Gar is a wonderful lover, he meant the world to me, so do something for me would you?"

"Anything."

"Take good care of him, and make him happy for the rest of his life. That's all I've ever wanted for him."

"I will. I promise."

"Tell me something, how did I end up in here?" Terra asked.

"I suppose it's because you were part of what was needed to create the Philosopher's Stone, he needed thousands of lives, not just the ones he took from Kravia and that was why he was always going to war."

"I see, I'll be seeing you around," Terra said, walking off, she looked back and gave Raven a wave. She vanished from her sight and Raven opened her eyes, and stared at Terra's grave.

Raven got up and headed back toward the castle. She had some more research to do, she wasn't just going to be idle, and she never knew what was going to happen.

Garfield Logan sighed as he continued pacing up and down. What to do, what to do, when would he announce his marriage to the peasants, but what should he say? What could convince them that he loved Raven and that she was a good person who could help them? As soon as the fervor died down over the fact that she could use magic, he planned to lift the church's ban on magic so that she could use her powers to aid and help the citizens.

"I'll tell them tomorrow," he told Richard. "It's been a month; I think I'm ready to announce what I've done. I'll deal with the church as quickly as possible, I won't let anyone or anything hurt Raven, I'm going to make it so she won't have to live in fear for her life because of her powers. I want her to use them and help others."

"You have to be careful though," Richard warned. "The peasants may revolt, I fully expect them to. People fear things they don't understand."

"Then I'm fully prepared for that," Gar said.

Victor stood inside the room, "This is a very perilous decision you've made. Don't get yourself killed."

"Don't worry, I won't," Gar reassured him. He had no intention of dying any time soon and he hoped that he would be able to resolve this conflict peacefully and settle down into a life with Raven.

"Kori, do you think I was too rash, marrying her?" Gar asked.

"I do not know for certain, Raven is our friend, and we want her to be happy here with us, but it is not my place to judge your decision, whether it was a mistake or not will be seen very soon."

"Cryptic answers are not helpful," Garfield sighed.

"I honestly don't know what's going to happen either," Richard admitted, "But we will stand by you, no matter what."

"Thank you, I find it comforting," Gar looked up as Raven entered. There were other dignitaries behind her.

"Hello Raven," he greeted her.

"Hello My Liege," she greeted him formally, there being others in the room who had just entered and did not know about their marriage would probably be displeased if they knew so she kept a formal tone with him in public.

Gar attended to his duties, always looking forward to when all the guests would leave and they would be able to spend time together.

He bid his guests good night and headed to his bedchamber, he had worked hard, signing decrees, debating with other nobles and lowering unnecessary taxes for things he never even needed. Malchior's exuberant lifestyle had taken its toll on the citizens. He was going to have a good life of course, but not so extravagant that the common people would think that all the power had corrupted him.

The heavy door shut behind him and he looked up at Raven who was silhouetted in the dark, after his eyes adjusted, he could see her.

"I've finally gotten away from them," he sighed. "It seems like I'm always saying that."

"You have been saying things along those lines lately," Raven agreed.

"I do believe that," he leaned forward and kissed her, she used her powers to grab the small torch and hold it up so they could see as he moved her over to their bed. She used her powers to set the torch back into the wall and he laughed as he gently set her down on their bed.

"I just can't get enough of you," he smiled. "I'll be insatiable until I can no longer help you have children. That is what I want most of all, yes, our children will be wonderful."

"You keep saying that like we'll have more than one," Raven said as she gasped as Gar's mouth found the side of her neck.

He pulled away, "Yes, I intend to have plenty of children with you."

"Is that your excuse?" Raven asked. "If I didn't know any better, I would say you were like Malchior." Raven regretted it, she didn't mean it the way she said it.

Garfield stiffened and looked at her. "Don't ever say that! I'm not like him. You know that better than anyone!"

His fury astounded her, even the comparison to him made Garfield enraged. Even if it wasn't meant to be insulting, anything about Malchior seemed to set him on edge.

"I didn't mean it that way Gar," she said quietly.

Still, she could tell he was angry. "Don't ever compare me to him! I love you, he never did. I want to be with you forever, he didn't."

He suddenly lurched forward and pinned her down. "Gar, I—" Raven tried to apologize but he wasn't listening.

"You infuriate me beyond reason, when you get me so worked up I honestly don't know what I'm going to do with you!" he let loose a low growl. "I won't hear anymore from you about Malchior. He's dead a gone, don't forget that!"

"Gar just calm yourself!" Raven was trying to calm him before he did something rash or said something that might be heard by the other guests.

"You think I can remain calm when you compare me to that monster?" Gar raised his voice slightly; Raven was terrified they might be overheard.

Garfield's eyes burned with anger, he was furious that she had said that about him, Malchior was insatiable, but his desires always went to others. He was satisfied and happy with her, and to compare him with Malchior, to equate unbridled lust with Garfield's undying devotion and love had angered him.

Still, he was trying to think rationally, deep down he understood what she meant, but any comparisons to Malchior were unacceptable to him.

Raven loosened his grip on her wrists and pulled him down to her. She kissed him deeply, letting all her emotions wash over him. Sweet whispers of an apology and that she loved him. Raven knew that was all he needed to hear at the moment. It was all that mattered to him.

"The things you do to me," he murmured in her ear. He wrapped his arms firmly around her waist and kissed her gently.

"Tell me, who is the one who will always be there for you?"

"You."

"Yes, whom do you love?"

"I love you."

"Who made love to you on your wedding night?"

"You did."

His mouth curved in into a mischievous smile and he let his hands roam her figure. His eyes glinted in the darkness with satisfaction as she began respond to his attentions to her body and her breathing became heavy.

"What am I going to do to you now?" his voice was demanding, his touch ungentle and rough. He was beyond controlling himself now, his rage and melted into amorous desire and Raven knew she couldn't deny him anything when he was in this state, not that she _wanted_ to anyway.

"You're going to make love to me," she sighed. "Don't pretend I don't know what you're thinking."

"Indeed, you're very perceptive Raven, I want children, but I'm curious. Do _you _want children?" His voice was serious.

Raven thought about it for a moment. "Yes," she whispered. "I want children."

"I'm glad, because I can't control myself anymore."

It was just as blissful as their wedding night, all their emotions mingled, combined until there was nothing in the world but the two of them. They would be together for until the end of eternity, he would keep that promise to her, no matter what. He bent down and pressed his lips to her forehead.

"I love you," he told her.

"I love you too," she replied. They drifted off to a peaceful sleep.

* * *

Back and forth, Mikron and Adonis fought, Malchior had taught him magic now, and he had learned to combine them with his swordplay. Mikron was actually tiring. His skills had improved considerably.

"Necronom Hezberek Mortix!" Adonis commanded, and the magic spewed from his hands, hitting Mikron, the man was knocked off his feet and Adonis quickly pressed the advantage, his began raining down quick, heavy strikes until Mikron was overwhelmed.

"I yield!" he cried, surrendering.

"Good," Adonis sheathed his sword.

"_You are now ready to face Raven,"_ Malchior congratulated. _"I have heard that Lord Garfield is going to make an announcement. No doubt it is concerning his relationship with sweet Raven. No doubt that the peasants will rise up against him, he will probably be injured, that is when you will attack sweet Raven and throw her off guard with the magic I have taught you. And everything will go just as planned."_

Adonis was pleased. At last, he was going to make that witch pay for what she'd done to him, winning Lord Garfield's affections and seducing him until he was no longer able to see that his true ambitions should be to tighten his grip on the pathetic peasants instead of catering to their so-called needs and whims.

He alone, deserved to sit on that throne and call himself king. Perhaps he would spare Raven. Yes, it would be the best vengeance of all, her alive with her husband dead and being forced to become his wife and he would _relish_ their wedding night, her despair and misery. It would be the most fitting form of vengeance and he would revel in every minute of it.

He closed his eyes and he could see it in his mind's eye, Raven's tears and him on top of her, pouring out his lust into her, forcing her to look at him and reminding her that _this_ is what she was going to look forward to, every night until she forgot about Garfield. She would never be able to speak of him again, and if she did, he would torture her until she _would_ forget.

Adonis began to laugh, the entire kingdom would be his, and he was going to enjoy it.

Malchior chuckled at this foolish man, who thought he could use his powers for his own gain. Adonis was a fool. He knew that Adonis didn't have the magical capacity to sustain using magic for long periods of time, he also knew that Raven would not be as surprised when she discovered that he could use magic. She'd been around him and knew how to counter magic attacks. He was just doing this in order to weaken Adonis, and make him more subservient to him.

Now as for Adonis' thoughts of revenge, they suited Malchior just fine, when he had taken his vengeance, he would carry out Adonis' plans concerning Raven. Perhaps, he would even enjoy the encounter; after all, no doubt she still harbored some feelings for him.

His mind wandered back to the night before he left. Malchior wondered what would have happened if he had made love to Raven, if he had let himself fall in love with her, if they might have been happy together. She had always craved his attention, if he had given it; he wondered how it might have been. No doubt she would have been an ardent lover…It wasn't important to him, since when did he care about love or emotions? He was being sentimental, and there was no place for that now. All that mattered was revenge, and he was going to have it.


	15. Chapter 14: As Reason Clouds My Eyes

**Chapter Fourteen: As Reason Clouds My Eyes, The Splendor Fading**

_**Author's Note: **__Sorry for being away from this fic for months. Making money on the internet writing is more fun than fan fic writing, and I've been getting paid and buying anime with it and I haven't been concentrating on writing, but my writer's block went away recently so I'm back for a little while. Yoohoo, Dark Rapture, I'm back! Happy now?_

* * *

Raven awoke the next morning, staring at her husband who was still sleeping deeply. Everything was right in the world, but she still dreaded today. Garfield was going to announce his marriage to her to the peasants. She dreaded their reaction and didn't worry for herself but for Garfield. Would he plunge his kingdom into another civil war over her? She hoped it wouldn't come to that, but still, Raven was deeply worried.

"You shouldn't worry, Rae, you'll be fine. Nothing is going to happen to you."

"That's reassuring," Raven replied. "You'll tell them today?"

"Yes, I'll tell them today." Garfield rose to his feet and dressed. He gave her a smile and left.

Garfield told the herald to call the peasants to the square outside the castle. They seemed to be anticipating what he had to say. Raven was with him, standing just out of site.

"As you all know, I have been away for awhile, and you have probably been wondering why. You see…I've gotten married."

"Married?" people in the crowd asked. How their king could have gotten married and they not know about it? "Why did you not tell us?" they demanded.

"The woman I married is Raven," Garfield told them calmly.

All hell broke loose at that moment. The peasants roared and became a signle-minded sea of rage. They surged toward Gar with the intent to take Raven and no doubt, burn her at the stake.

Garfield was armed of course, but he didn't want to raise his sword against them. They were misguided, believing whatever the Holy Father told them about Raven without wanting to learn the truth about her. His knights knew the truth about her because she had used her powers to heal them, so they would try to protect her as best they could.

"Raven, get back!" he called to her. She immediately scooted away and Richard and Victor stood between her and the crowd, brandishing their weapons to keep the angry mob at bay.

He caught a glimpse of something metallic and sharp. Before Garfield could react, someone plunged a knife through the leather he was wearing, despite the fact that the armor protected most of his body, he was still vulnerable.

The searing pain ripped through him Garfield felt his breath leave him as he lurched forward. Raven saw him falling and she desperately tried to reach him.

"_Garfield!_" Raven screamed, she tried to push herself through the crowd toward him to protect him but Richard and Victor held her back.

"You can't go to him, Raven!" Victor told her. Richard led her back to the palace through the crowd and back to the castle's safety behind the walls. Garfield felt his strength leaving him as he slipped into unconsciousness.

Richard beat his way through the angry men as he shoved them aside as they kept beating and kicking an unconscious Garfield. He threw a man away as he tried to stab his King with a knife and Richard hoisted Garfield over his shoulders and rushed back to the safety of the castle.

Raven rushed forward towards Garfield as he was brought in. Kori was there instantly, having been told that her friend had been injured; she'd been getting ready to treat his wounds.

Kori was worried, Gar's wounds were much worse than the previous incident and he had lost a lot more blood. He kept slipping in and out of consciousness. Raven assisted her, using all her powers to help stop the bleeding.

"Go rest Raven, I shall inform you once he wakes," Kori assured her friend.

"Very well, I will go," Raven turned and left.

"Stay clear of the windows," Kori warned. "Don't let them see you, they're still outside, trying to get in, the guards are doing well at keeping them at bay.

"I will," Raven replied. Her mind was spinning. What would become of them? Would the guards be overpowered and would the mob storm the castle to kill her and Garfield?

She paced back and forth in the hallway for what seemed like forever until she saw Kori walking towards her.

"Is he awake?" Raven asked nervously.

"Yes, and he's asking for you." Kori gave her a smile.

Raven rushed to the room where he was wrapped in cloths to staunch the bleeding. He looked weak but had a smile on his face.

"I guess they were displeased," he quipped.

"That's not something to jest about, you were nearly killed!" Raven looked at him, "If you died, I wouldn't know what to do."

"I guess I shouldn't jest about it then," Garfield sighed. "Are you hurt?"

"No, I have been up worried about you," Raven took his hand in hers.

"I've been told it is night out, have I been asleep so long?"

"You weren't asleep you were unconscious."

"But I'm awake now, and the sight of you safe and sound is a relief to me."

"I've been more worried about you," Raven admitted.

Garfield sat up and pulled Raven close to him.

"There's no need for you to worry, I will always protect you, to the end of eternity. The peasants' anger will eventually subside when they see that you are a good person."

"I'm not so sure about that," Raven told him, still apprehensive.

"You're worrying too much," he chided, he kissed her lips softly. "We're both going to be fine."

"You've reassured me," she breathed. Garfield suddenly pulled her down on top of him.

"If only I wasn't so weak," he sighed.

"You're in no shape for that," Raven scolded.

"A very poor jest," Garfield gave her a smile.

"Get some rest. Raven let him go and slowly pulled away.

"I think I'll eat something first," Garfield smiled. "You should sleep too, you look exhausted."

Raven headed back to the bedchamber and the servants helped her undress, in a simple kirtle to keep her modest, she drifted off to sleep.

The next day, she woke up to find someone beside her, she jump for a second only to realize it was Garfield, his arm wrapped securely around her waist.

"When did you get here? I didn't even hear you when you came in," she looked at him, pleasantly surprised.

"I didn't want to wake you," Garfield whispered. "You look peaceful when you sleep."

Raven looked up at him, still sleepy, but giving him such a look that he couldn't help but adore her.

"How do you feel?" Raven inquired.

"I feel much better, you shouldn't worry so much."

Garfield gently moved to straddle his wife and gave her a smile. He pulled her into a kiss that took her breath away.

"We can't…not now, others will see," Raven insisted.

"But we need to have children, we need an heir and it is very important!" Garfield insisted.

"You are just making an excuse to make love to me, aren't you?"

"No, not an excuse, a reasonable request of my own wife," Garfield's peeling laugh was heard throughout the castle. The servants didn't say a word, but what they all knew was, their master had a very happy love life.

"But what about the mob outside?" Raven stated the obvious.

"I suppose I shall have to deal with it sooner than later."

Garfield managed to stand to his feet and moved toward the gateway. Raven tried to stop him.

"They'll kill you if you go out to them without any weapons they'll kill you without hesitation."

"I will prove to them that I will not rule them like a tyrant and that I won't be like Malchior," Garfield said with determination. "Wish me luck!"

He walked out to the angry mob who was still gathered in front of the castle gates. Raven watched him go and hoped that he would return to her.

Garfield walked through the gates and moved shakily to stand before the people.

He took slow, even steps, he would show them that he was a strong man in his beliefs and that he wasn't like Malchior. He wouldn't use force to have his way.

The people stirred at the sight of him. The murmurs began. What was he going to do? Would he order his knights to slay them, or would arrows rain down from above and kill them because they had tried to kill him.

He didn't say a word to them, he just gazed out at all of the, his eyes meeting theirs with a determination they admired. The same determination that had driven him to overthrow their former king. They knew that there was no way he would divorce Raven. Garfield wanted them to understand her, and accept her despite her strange powers.

They remembered the stories about Terra, it was said she had strange powers as well. Would they have rejected her too if it was her instead of Raven?

The stirring began to slowly change; whispers of admiration began to move through the crowd. They began to cheer. It started quietly but it became a unified roar of approval.

Only a brave man would go to an angry crowd unarmed and courageously confront them. Perhaps Raven was not the evil witch they believed to be? Raven had been good to them; they had heard the stories of how she cured them and helped them.

Garfield turned around and walked back into the castle. He managed to make his way into his bed chamber before falling onto the bed exhausted. He felt physically drained and had to rest.

Raven entered the room and saw him lying on the bed exhausted. She sat down beside him and ran her fingers through his hair.

"I'm glad you're safe," Raven whispered in his ear.

"What a pleasant sight to wake up to," Garfield said sweetly.

"Are you all right?"

"Yes, I am," Raven smiled.

Garfield beaming face seemed to encapsulate everything he felt. To see her resting in his arms made him happy. He ran his fingers through her hair, murmuring words in her ear.

A brief vision flashed before Raven's eyes.

_The castle was in flames. Richard, Kori, and Victor were nowhere to be found. Raven looked around, there was no one there. Bodies were scattered everywhere. Knights, peasants, servants, they were gone. There was nothing but ash and rubble and—_

_The looming shadow of a familiar figure revealed itself, standing over Garfield's dead corpse. _

"_Such a pity I couldn't keep him alive so I could make him watch what I'd do to you, sweet Raven. Now you belong to me, and I will never let you go."_

"_NO!" the scream ripped from her throat. "This is just a vision. This is not something that will happen. I will not allow it!"_

"_There's no stopping what will happen. You will watch him die. I will make sure of it."_

"_You are dead!" She insisted. "Stay where you belong, in my memories."_

"_I will…never be a memory," Malchior sneered._

Abruptly, Raven lurched forward with a shriek and fell into his arms.

"Raven, is something wrong?" he asked, the concern on his face was evident. She seemed disturbed by something. The protective embrace he gave her was reassuring enough.

"I had a vision…in it…Malchior came back," Raven looked at him. "If he does return, what should I do?"

"You won't have to do anything, I promise, I am unsure of how he could come back, but your own powers are extraordinary in themselves. But if he _does _return I will send him back to his grave in tiny pieces. I will protect you, I promise you that."

"Get some sleep," he told her. "In the morning, everything will be well. Have pleasant dreams Raven."

"It's so cold in here," Raven pulled him close to her, seeking the warmth of his body heat.

"Come here, stay warm, with me," Garfield smiled. "I will get the fire going again. Go to sleep. Good night."

"I will, thanks to you," Raven whispered. She shut her eyes and rested her head on his shoulders.

Raven let herself rest and did not dream of Malchior or her old life. Instead, she dreamed of Garfield and their happiness, and she smiled in her sleep. She felt completely safe and satisfied with her life.

Garfield kissed her forehead; he was worried about her fears concerning Malchior, but he would not be deterred by it. He would make sure that they would be protected from anyone who would try to hurt them. He let her rest against him and he smiled, he drifted off and let exquisite dreams take him to pleasant places. Life was good to both of them and he intended to keep it that way.

* * *

_**Author's Note: **__Sorry I've been gone from writing fan fic for ages. I'm mainly writing reviews under my pen name Reviewmemedia at Triond so I'm not really focusing on fun stuff, but I had to finish this chapter, because I finally decided to take a tiny break from work writing and do something fun._


	16. Chapter 15: Illusions of the Sunlight

**Chapter Fifteen: Illusions of the Sunlight**

_**Author's Note: **__I'm back! Sorry to keep you all waiting for almost a year. Sorry DarkRapture, you better not forget about me! This is a major breather chapter; there won't be any action oriented scenes, mainly because I need to get myself back into writing mode for this. I hated looking over this story again, because ironically, I'm never impressed by my own work._

_Someone help me find my Death Note reference in this fanfic, I can't remember the chapter it was in. I'm trying to fix this fic up a little bit._

_There are also clever uses of Shakespearean double entendres in here you find them you can smirk. If you're still stumped, PM me and all will be explained._

* * *

Lilith Clay was a busy young woman. She ran a tavern by trade and was content to live her life in peace and quiet. Despite her simple outward appearance and simplistic lifestyle, she had aided Garfield, Richard, Kori in the Victor in the war.

She was not a warrior like Kori, but she, like Raven had extraordinary gifts. She could see the future. She wiped the sweat off her face and placed the barrel of ale she had been making on the floor.

Lilith had been working all day and she finally finished replenishing her supply of ale. At least she'd never be poor, everyone came to drink at her tavern and she didn't mind.

She hadn't participated directly in the war, but she had helped Garfield and the others by using her powers to see into the future. He hadn't asked exactly how he would win, he just asked whether or not he would actually win. Lilith had told him that he would.

She looked up as she saw a figure in a blue cloak standing at the counter.

Lilith was about to say something to show her surprise, but Raven quickly made a motion for her to stay silent.

"Can I help you with something?" Lilith asked.

"I need to talk to you in private."

Lilith nodded, she gestured for Raven to follow her outside.

Lilith, we all know you can see the future, have you seen anything about what's going to happy.

"He will come back; you've sensed it too, haven't you?" Lilith looked at Raven.

"Yes and my dreams have never been wrong," Raven clenched her fists. "I wish I was wrong this time. This could happen any day now."

_"No one can escape time; it delivers us all to the same end. You can't plug your ears and cover your eyes," Lilith replied cryptically. _

"So we will all die, that's not what I wanted to hear. What am I supposed to do?"

"You will have to make that decision for yourself Raven; no one can make it for you."

"But will this come to pass?" Raven had to know for sure.

"The future is not fixed, but fluid, visions do not have to come true," Lilith smiled. "You, who wish to safeguard the future, however limited it may be, you will be given one year; go forth, without falter, with your heart as your guide…"

Raven turned and left. While she hadn't gotten the exact answer she'd hoped for, maybe there was still hope that she could stop Malchior after all.

One year, just one year. Raven knew she'd have to study more magic and research more spells. She would have to become stronger, not just for herself, but for everyone else.

Raven left the tavern and made her way back to the castle. Lilith watched her leave.

"You did better than I thought," a voice behind her spoke up.

"If she would have known that you were here she wouldn't have been happy Garfield."

"So nice to see that you dropped my title and actually treat me like an old friend."

"We've known each other for years. You would always come to me asking for advice."

"I should just ask you to come to the castle," Garfield laughed, drinking some ale.

"I don't like castles and court politics, you know that," Lilith smiled.

"I know, but it didn't hurt to ask you," Garfield raised his hood and left.

Lilith shook her head and took a big drink of her own ale. It had been a crazy day.

* * *

Raven had returned to the spot she had always meditated in. It was special to her. It was the place where she had started to fall in love with Garfield and so it meant more to her than she had realized.

"Terra?" Raven called.

"Yes?" she answered.

"Malchior's coming back."

"When will it be?"

"One year from now. Will you help me fight him?"

"Yes, of course I will, he did murder me after all."

"That's good. That's very good."

Raven continued to meditate. "Azarath, Metrion, Zinthos… Azarath, Metrion, Zinthos…"

_"Sweet Raven…so nice to see you again,"_ Malchior's voice hissed in her mind.

"Malchior!"

_"I have missed you."_

"I haven't missed you," she snarled. "I've been blind too long. I could never see you for what you really were."

_"I love you; it just took my death for me to see that. When I come back we can be together, just like we were supposed to be."_

"I'm afraid not, you're gone and out of my life. Even though you're coming back, I won't be a part of your life anymore. I'm nothing but a trophy to you. You make me want to vomit."

_"Raven, I still love you,"_ Malchior whispered.

His mouth found hers, this wasn't just her imagination; she could_ feel_ him kissing her. There would have been a time when she'd have done anything for him to tell her he loved her or even kiss her.

She didn't react to his kisses; she knew it was all a lie, it felt rehearsed, forced, false. She knew it, because she had experienced it and read Malchior's true thoughts about her.

_"You still have what I want,"_ her former husband spoke, Raven shuddered, the voice that she had once perceived as gentle and polite, was still polite without any gentleness or kindness, instead there was a mocking, malicious tone to it, and she wondered how it could have deceived her for so long.

"My love or the Philosopher's Stone you ugly old impotent bastard?" Raven glowered.

_"Ah, such language, does your new lover say such things, I'm looking forward to killing him in front of you!"_

_"_I've seen your true colors, you lying snake, your words are merely words, your actions were always in your own self interest. You're not going to kill him, _I'm_ going to kill _you_!"

She physically shoved him away, he seemed startled. Surely this stratagem would have worked awhile ago, had that impudent Garfield Logan died, he would have gone back to her and seduced her, perhaps even loved her, if he could truly feel such emotions.

That horrible wretch, he'd stolen his prize and had her wrapped around his finger, in his arms, in his _bed_, able to experience proper lovemaking; he envied everything about the blond haired whelp. Most of all, he envied that Raven adored the young man, she didn't speak about him, no, she didn't _need_ to, all his other lovers had boasted about how "good" he was, but only because he paid them so well.

It had to be because he was her first lover; that was it; love was for foolish romantics and dreamers. Marriages were merely business transactions, a way to gain power and prestige, courtly love was for stories, true love was a jest, a childish notion.

The lust of the eyes were for strumpets, philanderers, and cuckolds, not husbands and wives, he did not believe the Priests religious notions, but their notions of sex were correct in his eyes. It was for procreation, nothing more, he'd been trying for an heir, but not with Raven, because she was weak, her potential power as a sorceress was what kept her with him, she could not bear a child for him, she wasn't strong enough, and the child could be tainted by her father's influence and he no interest in dealing with a demon.

_"Get out of my_ sight! _And out of my_ memories! _Disappear!"_

"As long as I'm around, you are never alone, sweet Raven. I'll be seeing you very soon." Malchior vanished from sight.

Raven's eyes snapped open and she was once again alone. She got up and returned to the castle. She found Garfield busy as always.

"You were outside," he said absently, still reading letters and laws that made his head ache.

"You can tell?"

"Yes, were you meditating?"

"Yes," she replied.

"The church would be displeased; by they are already irate that I married you in the first place. Ah, pay me no mind. I don't want to talk about them."

"Do you believe in destiny, fate and dreams?" Raven asked; her tone serious.

"Destiny…fate…dreams. These unstoppable ideals are held deep in the heart of man. As long as there are people who seek freedom in this life. These things shall not vanish from the earth..."

He didn't believe that fate could just order him to die. Dreams were something one had to obtain for themselves. Destiny was something someone chose for themselves and fate, fate was merely luck.

"Garfield, are you afraid of dying?" Raven asked, concerned.

"Dying, no dying does not frighten me, dying isn't so bad," Garfield laughed. Raven was irritated, she was trying to have a serious conversation, but he wasn't paying attention to her.

"Dying is an especially exquisite experience, the _look_ on your face…" he purred, chuckling.

"I wasn't even referring to making love to you, you insatiable fool, I just—" Raven threw up he hands in frustration, "Azar, I married an idiot!"

"A very poor jest," he glanced at her.

"He'll be here in a year," Raven looked at him.

"Is that something you've sensed?" She nodded. "Everything will work out, when Malchior gets here; we'll be ready for him."

Raven did feel reassured. He made everything seem so simple, like he could defeat the powerful sorcerer with a snap of his fingers. She could see that despite his apparent lack of intelligence regarding education, he was a skilled leader when he wasn't being lazy.

"There is something I would like to ask you," Gar looked at her; his expression was a small smile.

"What is it?"

"We will have some time before he comes, just enough."

"What do you mean?" Raven asked.

"Do you want to have children?" he asked. Raven knew it was a political obligation, but he wasn't treating it like that all. He was making this a mutual decision between the two of them.

"Shouldn't we wait until after this is over?" Raven tried to reason with him. This would just be something for him to worry about, and he had enough burdens as it was.

"We don't know what will happen, I might die like in your dreams so, if that is going to happen, I want to be with you as much as I can."

"I don't…know…" Raven had contemplated children, ever since she'd been married to Garfield. Her sole obsession in her relationship with Malchior had been trying to gain some of his affections, having children was something he had used to manipulate her, she knew now that it was something he hadn't even wanted.

"I'll give you some time to think about it," he walked out of the room.

Garfield made his way over to Victor and Richard; they were discussing the security of the castle.

"I must speak with you in private, go find Kory."

Richard did so immediately. Garfield saw Raven walk out, "We should all go where we cannot be heard."

"But where could we go? There are no secrets in this castle," Victor told him.

"Follow me," Raven gestured to them, leaving in a formal fashion, no one questioned them, since Victor was a castle guard.

They made their way out to where Raven meditated in solitude, they could not be seen from the castle and no one had ever found it.

"What is going on?" Kory asked.

"Malchior…is going to come back," Raven began to explain. "Someone is trying to help him."

"Who do you think is trying to help him?" Richard asked.

"I don't know, but they must be someone who has as much hatred for Gar as he does," Victor frowned.

"But who could it be? Most people who sympathized with Malchior are dead."

"It's true, but we have one year to prepare for his return," Richard looked at them. "We'll just have to train until them. Victor, you said you were inventing some more powerful cannons."

"Yes, I am, I'll have them done before a year, I promise," Victor smiled. "He won't know what hit him."

"We will stop him, I promise," Kory put a hand on her shoulder.

"So we are all in agreement then," Garfield smiled.

"Yes," they said in unison.

"Promise me, that if I die, you will all take care of her."

"You don't even have to ask us that, Raven is our friend."

"Thank you," Raven smiled. They each left, separately. Garfield and Raven were alone. She had been mulling over the question he'd posed earlier, finally, she had an answer for him.

"I have been thinking about what you ask me earlier," Raven looked at him.

"About children," he looked at her, remaining calm and collected.

"I want you—" she didn't even get to finish her sentence before he had kissed her and pushed her down into the soft grass. His hands were moving already.

"Garfield, do you even know what you're touching?" Raven inhaled sharply as her eyes widened in shocked surprise, she hadn't expected him to start so quickly.

"Nothing," he smirked, "You look so surprised, you said this was what you wanted." He'd not had enough strength to do this for some time, he'd missed the intimacy with her.

"Not here, not now, in daylight!" Raven tried not to panic, his fingers kept moving, she tried not to make too much noise. Making love during the day was an enormous taboo, and they were outdoors, again. Gar smirked, daytime meant nothing to him, didn't say anywhere in the Bible what time of day it had to be to have sex, since he'd learned to read, he'd actually bothered to look. No such rule, much to his relief.

"The only rules I follow are my own, God won't be mad, we're married."

"Please, just think for once!" Raven mumbled, she wasn't thinking any more than he was.

"I am thinking, I'm thinking no one will find us here," Gar laughed. He kissed her again.

"We have to keep quiet," Raven hissed in his ears. "If they find us like this we could die."

"That is a bit much, but we _are_ going to die, just not in the way you're thinking of!" he laughed.

He had to wonder how long the illusions of the sunlight would last before it became a dark stormy world again.


	17. Chapter 16: The Reflection of a Lie

**Chapter Sixteen: The Reflection of a Lie will keep me Waiting**

_**Author's Note:**_ _Sorry I've been away for so long regarding this story. I have a ton of other things to write for, including reviews, earning money for my game capture card for and YouTube, saving up for The Last of Us videogame starring Terra's voice actress Ashley Johnson that comes out June 14, 2013 and having a major case of writer's block specifically regarding this story. But I'm back, and hopefully I'll be able to update this story more!_

_For some reason while writing this story I just had to listen to "Sis Puella magica" by Yukii Kajiura from Puella Magi Madoka Magica. That anime is awesome, watch it now!_

_Also, on another note, I'M GOING TO BE AN AUNT! My sister-in-law is gonna have a baby! SQUEE!_

_You know I've been unfaithful, Lovers in lines  
While you're turning over tables with the rage of a jealous kind  
I chose the gallows to the aisle, Thought that love would never find  
Hanging ropes will never keep you, And your love of a jealous kind  
Love of a jealous kind –**Jars of Clay**_

* * *

Raven had watched the months speed by. They had only six months until Malchior would return. She'd dedicated herself to the study of magic, learning more about her powers, but she barely slept. The nightmares were too vivid, and she often woke up screaming. It became such a common occurrence that Garfield told the servants to not come running to see if anything was wrong.

"Shhh, Raven, it was merely a dream, nothing more."

"My dreams always have meaning. All I can see is a future I can't change."

"No matter what happens, I'm not the one who's going to die."

"I want to believe that, more than anything."

"Just close your eyes and go to sleep, you need it."

Raven did as he said, she felt so safe when she was awake, in her dreams, she felt alone and helpless.

"I don't think I can sleep," Raven murmured softly.

"I could remedy that," Garfield laughed, kissing her, pushing her back into their bed. "Just relax…"

"Garfield, you're so insatiable," Raven looked at him.

"I need a male heir, but don't worry, I just want you to enjoy yourself," He began removing her clothes.

"Gar…I…" he cut her off with a searing kiss.

"Shh, it's all right, everything is fine," Gar reassured her. They made love quietly. He kept telling her that they would be all right.

"Gar…I love you," Raven whispered in his ear, stroking his back.

"I love you too, Raven," he kissed her forehead. "Get some sleep…"

She didn't respond; he could hear her steady breathing; she really had gone to sleep. He chuckled in amusement.

He let himself sleep; he hoped Raven would feel better in the morning.

Raven awoke the next day; she ate breakfast without Gar and went to consult Kori.

Kori saw the door of the Apothecary open and Raven entered.

"Raven!" She greeted her friend with a smile. "Is something wrong?"

"Kori, I can't stay here any longer," Raven told her. Kori looked at her like she had said something in a foreign language.

"You cannot leave him, he adores you, and you are the queen of this country, you have a responsibility to this country and its people."

"I have a title, I haven't been involved in politics, not when I was married to Malchior and certainly not now. The people never cared for me, he does, and I'm leaving for his sake."

"We can protect you, we promised you we would. We will not fail you!" Kori did her best to convince her friend of that.

"I know you mean that, but my dreams and visions all end the same, he always dies, if I'm not here, Malchior will not come, and you will all be safe."

"What good is safety when you cannot be with the people you love and care for? You are lying to yourself if you believe Malchior will not come if you are not here!" Kori scolded her.

Raven gave her a sad smile, "I'm willing to sacrifice that. I'm leaving and you can't stop me."

"You are just as stubborn as he is!" Kori was exasperated.

"I'm sorry Kori, I really am. Please tell Gar, "I love you, so I'm leaving for your sake. You're better off without me". I'll miss all of you."

Raven turned and left. Kori got up and quickly followed her.

"Raven! Raven!" Kori called out. She began running. Raven couldn't leave. They would all be devastated, but Garfield especially.

Raven stood in the woods, alone; she drew the magic circle and sat cross-legged in the center. She began to chant.

"_Azarath Metrion Zinthos...Carazon Rakashas Endere...Vaserix Endrien Azarath...Azarath, Azarath!"_

"Raven, no!" Kori tried to reach for Raven, but she disappeared.

Raven vanished without a trace. Kori turned and saw Gar approaching her.

"Kori, where is Raven?" Garfield asked; he had searched for her tirelessly. He wanted to ask her what was wrong. He'd been worried about her.

"Garfield, she is gone," Kori informed him sadly. Gar was utterly devastated.

"Where did she go?!" Gar gripped Kori's shoulders. "Tell me, please!"

"She said she was returning home," Kori looked at him.

"To Nol? I'll go bring her back," Gar turned to leave.

"Not to Nol, to Azarath, she said that if she was gone Malchior wouldn't attack you. You'd be safe and better off without her."

Gar stopped dead in his tracks. He couldn't believe what she was saying to him, he refused to believe it.

"She doesn't mean that. I'm going to be the miserablest creature on earth*****," Gar buried his face in his hands.

He walked back into the castle and headed to his bedchamber, Kori was deeply concerned when he refused food and drink.

"Garfield, please eat," Kori encouraged.

"I don't want it," he scowled. She turned and left, leaving the food on the small table. He angrily upset the table, overturning it and throwing it aside.

"Why would she leave me?! Is it something I did?! I know she's worried about what will happen to me, but she shouldn't run from her problems! I miss her so much, my heart aches, I'm going to find her and bring her back I'm going to…going to…" he was exhausted. He managed to throw himself on his bed and sleep a little.

He didn't eat for three days and wouldn't get up to do anything, he put Richard and Victor in charge of his duties, he sat on his bed, clutching one of Raven's cloaks and not saying a word.

On the fourth day, he asked Kori a question.

"Kori, where is Azarath?" Gar inquired.

"Raven never told me, I know what you intend to do, you intend to retrieve her yourself. You have a kingdom to rule, you cannot drop everything and leave to bring her back."

"Richard and Victor can handle the administrative aspects of my job while I'm away. I won't be gone long. I'll find her and bring her back."

"I can see there will be no stopping you once you have set your mind to something," Kori sighed. "I wish you luck, bring our dear friend back to us."

"I will, I promise," Gar informed Richard and Victor of his plans, they wanted to go with him, but he gave them orders to stay behind.

He packed food and supplies, saddled his horse and rode off; he didn't wear anything that would make him look important; he didn't want to draw any attention to himself.

Gar dressed himself in green robes, wearing gauntlets and pouches for knives and money. He pulled the hood up over his face.

He traveled through the country, tirelessly searching for Azarath, but no one had even heard of the place. Eventually, he came to the country of Kravia and in the ale house, he heard a man tell the story of a place called Azarath, it was a beautiful city made of gold, and that its residents were pacifists.

"How do I find this place?" he inquired of the man, "Tell me!"

"You can only open the door if you have the power to cross dimensions," the young man exclaimed.

"Do you know anyone who can do that?"

"I can, for a price, how much are you willing to pay?"

"What's your name?" Gar asked.

"Herald," the man replied.

"Herald, I'll pay you this bag of gold if you'll send me to the dimension of Azarath."

"Follow me," Herald led him out into a wooded area, where they wouldn't be seen.

Herald took out a trumpet and blew into it. Gar stared as a portal opened, large enough for him to walk through.

"I can let you in, but you'll have to get back here on your own," Herald warned him.

"I understand," Gar nodded, he tossed the man his bag of gold.

"Thank you," Herald took the money and stepped through the portal.

Gar inhaled sharply at the sight of Azarath, it was a beautiful city, covered in gold and marble, its spires reaching the skies. He had learned of his wife's home, but never dreamed that another dimension could look so beautiful.

Much to his dismay, it was night time and the gates were closed.

He looked over and saw some of the bricks were uneven on the walls, he gripped one and hoisted himself up, he kept finding footholds and climbed up the wall.

"You, stop!" a guard shouted. Gar ran and leapt off the wall, he fell easily and landed in the haystack that he'd been aiming for.

The guards went to the magistrate, a man named Coman.

Coman glared at the guards, "Catch this intruder, immediately!"

Gar mingled with the crowd, not drawing too much attention to himself. The crowd dispersed as they return to their homes. Gar thought he could find an inn to lay low. Suddenly, one of the guards looked over at him. "That's him! The intruder, stop him!" They rushed at him, drawing their swords.

Gar pressed a mechanism on his wrist, unleashing a small blade***** that buried itself in the guard's neck. The man dropped dead. It was a clever invention of Victor's that Richard had improved and modified. Now he would always be armed even when he didn't have a sword.

"Where did that come from? Kill him!" the guards attacked and Gar backed away, blocking strikes of their swords when he could. He was on a high roof and backed towards a ledge.

"I don't have time to play with you," Gar told them, he turned around and leapt off the ledge.

"He won't survive a jump from that high," the guard looked at the spot where Gar had been. "Spread out and search for him!"

Gar got up out of the haystack and dusted himself off. He began walking through the crowd.

He scoured the city into the wee hours of the morning and hadn't found Raven. He was sprinting across the rooftop when he was spotted by guards.

Gar jumped from the roof and sprinted through the streets, pushing people aside, they chased him until he was trapped in the center of the city in the square. He felt something slam into his armor as he looked and saw an arrow. Someone had shot him. He pulled out the arrow and threw it on the ground while removing his green cloak.

Gar took two steps and leapt over his first attacker and embedded his hidden blade into a guard's neck, rolling to his feet, he managed to twist his body backward to avoid being decapitated by a large battleaxe. Another man came at him; Gar pushed the axe aside and pushed the man's head down, vaulting over the man and rolling off his back.

Gar kicked the other guard in front of him away and grabbed the man behind him and disarmed him, stabbing the guard in the back with his own sword.

He jabbed another man in the neck with his blade and wrested the spear from his hands. Gar swung it like an axe and stabbed a guard in the stomach. He dropped the spear and grabbed another man's sword as they trick to slash him; he used the other guard hands and raised the man's sword to block another attack.

Ducking low to avoid another axe, Gar elbowed his attacker just below the neck, causing him to lose his concentration as he used his blade to stab the man in the face. Someone grabbed him from behind and Gar retaliated by head butting the man and guiding the man's weapon into the neck of another attacker.

Gar slammed his head into the man in front of him and pushed him back. He struck another and slammed the small retractable blade into the man's throat. He managed to turn around in time to grab a nearby guard and used the man's hands to force his own blade into his body while simultaneously avoiding the guard to his right. He whirled around and threw one of his attackers backward, giving himself more room to move.

Two men rushed him simultaneously. He stabbed them both in the neck. He turned and saw Raven standing among them. He shook his head. It wasn't real, she was there, but not with them. His mind was playing tricks on him; he knew it was true because she wasn't speaking. If she were really there, she would have stopped them.

Gar brought his mind back to reality a second too late; a guard broke his hidden blade with his sword, knocking him to the ground.

They pointed their weapons at him, dragged him to his feet and bound his hands.

Coman glowered at him. "Who are you?"

Gar didn't answer. "Take him to the dungeon!" Gar elbowed his captor in the face.

He began running away from them, he managed to grab a knife and cut the ropes binding his hands. He disarmed a man and used his sword to fend off some attacks as he made his way up to the rooftop.

"Intruder! You have nowhere to run!" Coman shouted.

Gar smiled, "I'll be leaving now."

He leapt off the ledge and disappeared into the night.

"Send out the word, I want this man found and captured, dead or alive!" He turned and walked away.

Garfield wondered where Raven could possibly be, he was going to find her and bring her home. And no one was going to stop him.

* * *

_*** **William III said that when his wife Mary II died, they didn't have a happy marriage and he had an affair with one of her ladies in waiting, but it seems he was awfully sad when she died._

_***** Yes, my dear readers, I love to play Assassins Creed, currently gallivanting around Roma as Ezio Auditore da Firenze in Assassins Creed: Brotherhood._


	18. Chapter 17: With Love Gone for So Long

**Chapter Seventeen: With Love Gone for so Long**

**_Author's Note: _**_Sorry this took so long, I've been focusing on my YouTube partnership with Fullscreen Arcade and have been uploading let's plays and reviews, if you want to watch me, look up ReViewMeMedia on YouTube. Will be let's playing The Last of Us and Batman Arkham Asylum and Tomb Raider. Also had writer's block for the longest time too. Also new Skillet album Rise is out now. Darkrapture, sorry I kept you and everyone else waiting._

_Skillet's new song, "Fire and Fury" is like a BB/Rae song all the way. _

* * *

Gar made his way towards a tailor's shop; he had to find himself a new cloak and hood. Everyone would be looking for him in his distinct clothing. Better to blend in and move about unnoticed.

"Thank you, my friend," Gar told the tailor. "You've done a great thing for me today."

He vanished into the vast crowd.

He wandered through the beautiful paradise. Gar felt that he could be at peace here; well, almost, if he wasn't being chased by guards trying to capture him.

He saw an entrance to the sanctuary of Azarath, suddenly more guards spotted him.

"Catch him! Now!" they shouted. Gar saw a group of monks going into the large building; he ducked into the crowd, having changed his cloak to look similarly to their clothing.

Garfield saw the enormous crowd walking in and out of Temple Azarath and disappeared into the throng.

Raven had heard rumors of an intruder in the city. She couldn't sense any hostile presence within Temple Azarath. Either they didn't have hostile intentions or they were good at hiding their presence.

Raven rose from her bed, dressed herself and sought out her mother, even though they hadn't seen each other in a long time, she had become close to her mother Angela, known to the people of Azarath as Arella.

Arella saw Raven and smiled, "What's wrong Raven?"

"Mother, what do I do? If I go back, Garfield will die; I know that he's probably looking for me. "

"Of course he is, you left him, and you did not tell him why, but I can see you miss him," Arella looked at her daughter. "I know that you want to go back to him."

"If I go back to him, Malchior will kill him, I can't lose him, he means too much to me," Raven looked desperate. "Mother, what do I do?"

"You must do what you think is right. I never had a real marriage like what you have with Garfield, what I have sad is all the advice I can give you."

"Thank you Mother, I'll go to Temple Azarath to meditate," Raven turned and left. She made her way to the temple to gather her thoughts, meditate and make a decision.

Raven sat among the Monks of Azarath as Coman entered the room as the monks looked up.

"Monks of Azarath, there is an intruder in this temple! I wish for you all to meditate, he is hiding among us, an outsider would not know our mantras, and we will find him with your aid!"

The monks and Raven began to chant, "Azarath, Metrion, Zinthos. Azarath, Metrion, Zinthos."

The chanting continued, Raven reached out with her senses and couldn't sense any hostile presence.

"Apparently, the intruder has left this place. He is still in the city, keep an eye out for him, report him to us if you find him!"

Coman turned and left. The monks dispersed and Raven decided to return to her room. Raven's footsteps echoed down the hall. She stopped, and began to turn, she'd heard someone following her, she couldn't sense the identity of the person, he had learned a technique that blocked his presence from her. Raven was impressed, not many people knew how to do that.

A figure moved quickly, and pushed her against the wall, Raven tired to cry out, but suddenly, a mouth crashed own on hers, silencing her with a passionate kiss.

Raven was about to blast the stranger off her with her powers when a scent hit her, _his_ scent.

_Gar! Gar, is that you?_ Her mind reached out to his. She wrapped her arms around his torso, accepting him and his affections.

_I've come to bring you home, I won't leave without you!_ Gar continued kissing her mouth as he stroked her face and pressed himself against her. "I missed you…so much…"

"Garfield, I left to protect you!" Raven insisted.

"Your room, we can't discuss this here!" he ordered sternly. Raven led him to her room and shut the door behind them. Gar locked it.

"You don't have to lock the door, no one disturbs me," Raven told him.

"I won't risk it," Gar calmed himself. He was overwhelmed seeing her again after so long. He moved to hold her in an embrace, "I came all this way to find you, and I won't leave without you."

"It's far too dangerous for me to be with you, especially since—" Raven stopped herself.

"What?" Gar demanded, trying to keep an angry tone out of his voice. He glanced down at his wife and realized something was different about her.

"You are with child," he murmured reverentially. "Oh Rae, I'm overjoyed! Why wouldn't you tell me? It's even more important that you come home."

"I cannot go with you; I care about what happens to you, I don't want our child to grow up without knowing their father. Malchior cannot reach me here."

"You don't know that, we are not going to die! I promised you, we promised you, Kori, Richard, Victor and I, I destroyed Malchior once, and I can do it again!"

"I already have a plan to defeat Malchior, it doesn't involve you, please just go back home!" Raven raised her voice.

Garfield refused to back down. "I will not leave without you!"

"I insist you go home!" Raven waved her hands exasperated. "There is no reasoning when you when you're this stubborn—!"

Gar glared at her, "You infuriate me! You're not listening to me, but that doesn't matter—" He slammed his lips on hers. "I've just missed you too much."

Raven returned his kiss with her own, she tried to think of ways to convince him that she would be safer here, but words failed her. Raven knew he would be even more insistent that she return because of their unborn child.

"Garfield," Raven whispered, breathless. She met his gaze and sighed. "I've missed you too." Raven rested her head on his shoulder.

"Will you please come home?" Gar pleaded, stroking her hair.

"I'm afraid that my return will mean that you die," Raven whispered. "I don't want that to happen."

"It won't I promise," Gar smiled. He eased her into her bed, he smiled. There wouldn't be intimacy tonight, not the physical kind, but he was overjoyed to see her again. Perhaps rest would help her change her mind about coming home.

Garfield kissed Raven's forehead and held her as she drifted off to sleep. He joined her and did so with a smile on his face.

* * *

"Shoot him! Now!" a guard shouted, Gar immediately rolled over to grab a small knife to cut the arrow down only to see a black tendril of Raven's powers slice the arrow to pieces.

"Everyone lower your weapons! This man is my husband, if you hurt him, I will be infuriated, and you won't want to be near me when I am!" Raven's voice was low and dangerous. The guards backed down.

Coman stared, taken aback. "Husband?! He has broken into our sacred temple, and now we find him here with you?! What lies has he told you?!"

"I do not lie, don't test me Coman, get out, or I'll throw you out!" Raven snarled. The man backed away, bowing respectfully, he left the room, but not before Gar saw the man glare at both of them.

"He has always disliked me," Raven told Gar. "Don't mind him."

"I'll mind him," Gar sighed. "We should probably get up."

They began walking through the temple when Raven stopped. Gar looked up and saw an older woman approaching them.

"Mother, this is Garfield; he's my husband and father of our child."

Arella smiled, the young man was certainly handsome, his face was gentle and kind, his eyes were playful yet serious when called for.

Gar bowed respectfully and kissed her hand.

"I am deeply honored to meet you, Arella," Gar greeted her formally. Raven had told him about her mother. They smiled at each other, glancing at Raven.

"Please Garfield, I want to speak to you in private," Arella gestured for him to follow her. Raven smiled, giving him permission and they left.

"I heard you invaded this city, just to take her back have, but have you considered what Raven truly wants?"

"Yes, I have, and no matter what she says to me, I know she wants to come back," Gar looked at Arella. "You can tell too."

"I know, but she has tried to protect you the way she feels is best. If you show her you respect whatever decision she makes, I'm sure it will help her."

"You're right," Gar sighed. "A mother knows her daughter."

He smiled and they returned to Raven. Gar didn't say anything about their conversation.

Coman approached them, along with Azar. Gar bowed respectfully.

"Out of respect for Raven we will forgive your transgressions against our temple, but only once," Azar warned.

"Of course, I did not wish to disrupt you, but finding her was very important to me."

"Very well," Azar told him. "You may come and go as you please, but do not disrupt us any further."

Raven led Gar around the city, showing him her home and anything he wished to see. Many stopped to gaze on them in surprise, they had rarely seen Raven as happy as she was with the disruptive stranger.

Overlooking Temple Azarath, Gar turned to her.

"Before I ask you this question, I just want you to know that I respect your decision, so I will ask you again, Raven, will you come home?" Gar asked gently, not pushing or prodding her for an answer.

Raven had weighed his request ever since they'd been reunited. She'd tried to find the voice to refuse him, but she was in agony, being away from him and being alone had been the worst experience, and she didn't want to be alone again.

"Yes," she replied.

Gar smiled, "Good! I've missed you, we will return tomorrow, but not until after—"

He bent down and whispered words in her ears. Raven blushed and tried to pull away as Gar kissed her passionately, slapping his tongue into her mouth.

He pulled away and smiled. Raven said nothing, she simply walked away. He didn't move.

"Are you going to just stand there or not?" Raven asked, he immediately followed her.

* * *

The next day Raven helped Gar dress as they prepared to leave. Gar wondered how bad the scratches on his back were.

"You do leave deep marks on me," Gar murmured.

"It means I wanted to be close to you, that's all, you bit me last night too," Raven replied, healing his back.

"I apologize, when I get started, you know I can't stop."

"I hope you weren't uncomfortable," Gar smiled.

"I was fine; you're the one who looked nervous."

"I just hope that everything is fine," Gar fiddled with his shirt.

"It's fine, Gar, it's fine," Raven got up and left the room.

He joined her in the next room as she opened the portal for them to go home. They landed near the castle, within walking distance.

Raven and Gar approached the gates, and a broad smile crossed her face as she saw Kori, Richard and Victor waiting for her. She ran to them and they embraced her, not caring about status and titles.

These were her friends, and it was good to be home.

The castle was abuzz with their return. Gar didn't throw a feast, Raven insisted that everything was treated like it was normal. Gar conceded and they returned to their duties.

For two months, there would be peace.

* * *

Raven sat on the roof deep in meditation, she sensed danger and leapt to her feet, stepping back as an arrow landed near where she had been seated.

The arrow is black and attached to it is a scroll. Raven opened it and something fell out.

It was white rose.

She read the note.

_Sweet Raven,  
I'm coming back for you. I shall be your knight in shining armor and give you everything you've ever wanted. I'll make you see what a fool you were for throwing yourself into his arms._

_Malchior_

She turned and calmly walked back into the castle, handing the note to Gar.

He read it and threw it into the fire. "He thinks he's the knight in shining armor. I always found that to be rather sour."

Gar quickly wrote a note and going up to the roof he fired it back into the woods where he knew one of Malchior's lackeys were.

It read as follows:

_Malchior,  
I thought that I Garfield, should give you a proper reply, and I'll keep it simple for you. I thought I should give you your arrow and your rose back, along with my sword through your heart._

_Garfield, a man who deserves her more than you ever could._

"Say Victor, did you finish making those cannons?" Gar asked.

"Yes, everything is complete," Victor replied.

Gar examined his castle, going over the defenses and fortifications. He was ready for Malchior and he had several contingencies to make sure that the old snake wouldn't kill him, plans that none of his friends knew about.

"Sire, word has come that there's an army approaching our city, they say it's Malchior!"

"Let him come!" Gar said confidently, now it was all going to end, and he would be the one to emerge victorious.


	19. Chapter 18: And This Day's Ending

**Chapter Eighteen: And This Day's Ending is Proof of Time Killing All the Faith I Know**

_No, not gonna die tonight  
Were' gonna stand fight forever  
(Don't close your eyes)  
No, not gonna die tonight  
We've gonna fight for us together  
No, we're not gonna die tonight  
"Not Gonna Die" __**–Skillet**_

**_Author's Note:_**_ The breather chapters…are over! Sorry this took so long, but I couldn't think of how to write this chapter. I didn't want to hastily throw this chapter together and then look at this later and go, "Wow, this really sucks!" DarkRapture, I think about you all the time when I write this, seriously. This chapter contains humor because we're really gonna need it. This is my present to you all before I go away for five days to visit my new little nephew!_

* * *

Garfield knew the best way to prepare for a siege was to send the old, sick, women and children away.

"I insist you leave too," Gar told Raven.

"I won't, I'm the reason he's doing this, he'd suspect you'd want to send me away to keep me safe. I'm not leaving you, especially since you didn't want to leave Azarath without me."

"We are both stubborn I suppose," Gar smiled. "Victor, has everything been prepared for the siege?"

"Yes, your scorched earth policy is in place and all our women, children and elderly have been sent to Lord Wayne."

"Good," Gar nodded. He'd taken all the supplies he could store in his castle; he had also made sure that the town had access to fresh water and fish. He had foritified the town with three surrounding walls and moats. He had studied warfare and had learned from old mistakes during his previous campaigns. Unlike Malchior, he did not rely on intrigue and deception as much as cunning and clever ideas.

Ever since Raven had told him that Malchior would return, Gar had prepared the castle and the town's defenses. The lech would be in for a surprise, he wouldn't be able to just walk through the gates and take his kingdom back.

* * *

Malchior had taken over Adonis' body, as part of their mutual agreement. He rode his horse with swagger and overconfidence. Defeating this puny peasant and reclaiming Raven would prove to be no trouble at all. They had met no resistance and he wondered why the villages were deserted. He had become concerned when his men could no longer find food to forage.

He pulled his horse to a halt as his jaw dropped in sheer horror. The grass was scorched; the best trees had been cut down, the ones he had intended to use as siege machines.

Garfield has also built multiple walls and moats around the town, so even if he wanted to take the town, he was going to have a hard time of it. Still, at least he could get hay for his horses, feeding his men was going to be problematic; he had only brought suppliers for a few months. Gar had at least enough to last a year.

The blonde bastard was no doubt hiding with Raven in his comfortable castle, and from what Malchior heard he had knocked down parts of his beloved home to make it look unappealing and simple (his mind couldn't comprehend a practical castle defense to save his life), he would rectify that once he'd conquered Gar and wooed Raven back.

His scout rode up. "Lord Malchior, there's no way we can cut off or poison their water supply. If we do that we won't have any water either. The wall defenses are—"

An arrow pierced the scout's heart. Malchior looked up at the wall in horror; the archer was over 200 yards away! He saw a message attached to it. He opened it.

_To the Pretender to the Throne Malchior,  
Only a fool speaks to his scouts within firing range.  
Princess Koriand'r_

Another scout arrived and gave his report, "Beyond the town, Lord Garfield's castle has been modified, it's no longer the way it was, it has walls on three sides and is surrounded by a moat and nothing but a drawbridge that's been pulled up!"

Malchior snarled in frustration, "Fall back and set up the siege camp, we'll take the town and then that damn castle!"

* * *

Garfield stood on the battlements of the town walls, watching as Kori shot Malchior's scout.

"Let one of them live, _someone_ needs to tell him something!" Gar snarled, just seeing Adonis' face, even though he could hear Malchior's voice was infuriating enough.

Garfield left the walls and returned to garrison where he and his men were.

"Gar," Richard looked at him. "Raven's waiting for you."

Raven was lying on a straw bed; she seemed to be lost in though. Gar slipped out of his clothes and joined her.

"It's him, I can sense it, you said he looked like Adonis, but spoke with Malchior's voice." Raven stared at him. "I sensed he was angry."

"I have taken every advantage away from him," Garfield kissed her lips. He settled down onto a bed. He pulled her close and Raven rested her head on his shoulder.

"I know," Raven whispered, running her fingers through his hair. "But you know I worry."

Gar nuzzled her neck, kissing her gently. "Sweet Raven…"

"Gar, not now," Raven whispered. "There are others here."

He kept kissing her, clutching her against him. He groped her gently, enjoying her reaction as she let out a gasp.

"Shhh," he whispered.

"Please don't forget yourself," Raven breathed in his ear. She smiled, kissing his forehead.

"I promise you, I won't," Gar pulled her down to lay on top of him as he drifted off to sleep. He saw her role onto her side and he placed his hand over her swollen belly. "Love you…"

He drifted off to sleep.

A loud noise woke Gar from his sleep, Raven woke too and he threw on his clothes as a soldier ran into the room. Raven had dressed and said nothing.

"They're bombarding us with trebuchets."

"Very well, return fire," Gar ordered. "Also send him our gifts."

"I will tell Victor," the guard turned and left.

Victor stood atop the walls. He noticed there was a large groups of soldiers. "Fire the cannons at the trebuchets!"

The trebuchets lit up as the cannon fire hit them. "Launch the cows!" Victor shouted.

The trebuchets on the walls fired as Victor launched dead cows into Malchior's camp. The dead cows would spread sickness among Malchior's solders and terrify them as well.

Later that night, Garfield summoned Richard, Kori and Victor.

"We're going out through the postern gate, let's give them a surprise."

"He always sends out a scouting party, looking for a large scale attack," Kori reminded him. "This gives us an advantage; they will not be expecting a small group."

"All this time and he doesn't understand how I strategize, it's truly sad," Gar smiled. "It's time I stretched my legs."

They exited the town via the postern gate. They snuck into the camp, diving into small piles of hay that their enemies had managed to gather.

He could hear a patrol talking, laughing; as if their siege was some sort of game, there was discussion of what they would do with the plunder and talk of…other things that made his blood boil. He would make them regret trivializing this conflict; they would never see the inside of the town or his castle.

He could see they were very close to him. He whistled a series of notes, signaling the others.

Gar, Victor and Richard simultaneously leapt out of the haystacks, covering the solder's mouths and stabbing them through the heart as they pulled them into the hay. The remaining two looked bewildered but they didn't have time to react as two arrows embedded themselves into their skulls. They died instantly.

They began searching the bodies. Richard pulled out a piece of paper. "It's a map of their patrol routes."

They waited until nightfall. They dove into the moat and swam towards the other side. Malchior's soldiers were foolish enough to patrol close to the edge of the moat.

Gar signaled the others and held his breath as he submerged himself underwater. He could hear the approaching footsteps and he lurched out of the water, grabbing the soldiers from behind, knifing them as he pulled one into the water.

Victor was strong enough that he didn't even bother to stab his opponents, he just pulled them straight into the moat. Richard flipped one of them into the air and dragged him down below.

They could hear others talking. "Did you hear something?"

"Nothing, nothing at all."

Gar sighed. It was going to be a long night.

_The Next Day…_

"My Lord Malchior, Garfield sent assassins and they wiped out our five patrol squads! We found them all and they didn't leave any survivors!"

"Bombard those town walls to dust!" Malchior ordered.

They fired their makeshift trebuchets and they watched in horror as a wall of black energy surrounded the entire town and deflected the attack, rendering it utterly and completely useless.

"Damn her," Malchior snarled. "This is taking too long, time to accelerate my plans."

The next day Garfield saw Adonis approach the gates.

"Have you come to end the siege?" Garfield inquired.

Adonis spoke, "No, I've only come to say that once I tear this place apart, I shall do whatever I wish—"

_"You've taken too long you fool, I grow impatient and now I shall enact my revenge!"_ Malchior's voice boomed. _"I'll take this body now!"_

Adonis gasped, "But—but we had a deal! I held up my part of the bargain!"

_"I lied!" _

Gar watched in horror as Adonis' skin peeled away, his body contorted painfully and he screamed in agony as the body shape shifted into that of a large, black dragon.

"Now let us speak plainly and honestly as men!" Malchior glowered at him.

"To that I say, Ni!" Gar smirked. The dragon looked offended.

"You have no right to treat me this way!" Malchior roared.

"I don't want to talk to you no more, you empty headed animal food trough wiper. I fart in your general direction. Your mother was a hamster and your father smelt of elderberries."

"Tread with care, Garfield; you have every right to be frightened."

You don't frighten us, Nol-ish pig-dogs! Go and boil your bottoms, sons of a silly person! I blow my nose at you, so-called Malchiioooor Keeng, you and all your silly Nol-ish K-n-n-n-n-n-n-n-niggits!"

Gar gestured childishly beating his helmet with his hands.

"You will be silent!"

"No, now go away or I shall taunt you a second time!" Gar smirked. Now that the silliness was out of the way, it was time to get serious.

"Then, when it is done, and Jump Estate is... ashes...and Raven is _mine_… _then_ you have my permission to die."

Garfield stared at Malchior, he turned to Victor. "I am staring at a real fire breathing dragon, lest my eyes deceive me."

"Yes Sire, you are."

"I heard that Dragon Tail tastes excellent," Gar laughed. Victor caught the taunt. Since Malchior didn't know that Gar didn't eat meat, the dragon visibly recoiled.

"You ruin the countries you govern and the people in your care. You slaughter your enemies and sacrifice all your allies. You'll keep killing until there is nothing left but to destroy yourself. It will never be enough. You are an incorrigible warmonger, aren't you Malchior?"

Gar's face became still for a second, then he smiled, and Malchior shrunk back as Gar began to laugh. He clapped his hands.

"This would all be so boring if the world didn't breed such madness! I can't wait to destroy you again! When I'm through with you, there won't be a corpse to burn or bury! You're pathetic!"

"We will see pretender, we will see," Malchior backed away from the castle. Gar was suspicious of what his motives were. He wasn't about to let his guard down.

"After this is over, we're having you for lunch!" Victor shouted.

"You'll eat anything won't you," Gar groaned.

"Hey, it sounds tasty, what can I say?" Victor shrugged.

It was late at night. Gar could see soldiers mustering and he ordered his men out onto the town wall.

"None of them will set foot in this town; they will cower like kenneled dogs!"

His soldiers cheered. Malchior's men placed a ladder at the only place where they could possibly get in, the front gate.

Men began clamoring up the ladder as Gar began slashing at the nearest one. He slammed the butt of his sword into his attacker's face. He stabbed the man between the openings in his armor.

Richard was wielding a pike and slammed the back of it into a soldier's stomach; he stabbed him in the neck. He kicked the man back.

Kori stabbed a man with an arrow and then fired it at another. She pulled a halberd out of a dead corpse and stabbed the nearest enemy, swinging it around and decapitating him.

The four of them continued fighting, but their enemies just kept coming, just when it seemed like they would be overwhelmed. A wave of dark energy sent hundreds of men flying off the wall and tore the wooden ladder to splinters.

"Raven? What are you doing here?" Garfield asked.

"This is my home too, I'm in no condition to fight physically with you, but I do believe they are retreating." She gestured to the enemy that ran away in terror.

The remaining soldiers gathered their dead soldiers and moved them for burial. They threw the rest over the wall.

They returned to the castle and had a small feast and invited the minstrels to play music for them. While it was on his mind, he had the servants search for any weapons in the archives or any references to various weapons.

"Look through the archives to see if we have any weapons that would help us."

Later he servants came to Garfield with a scroll.

And Saint Attila raised the Hand Grenade up on high , saying, " O Lord, Bless this, that with it thou mayst blow thine enemies to tiny bits, in thy mercy." And the Lord did grin, and the people did rejoice and did feast upon the lambs and toads and tree-sloths and fruit-bats and orangutans and breakfast cereals ... And the Lord spake, "First thou pullest the Holy Pin. Then thou must count to three. Three shall be the number of the counting and the number of the counting shall be three. Four shalt thou not count, neither shalt thou count two, excepting that thou then proceedeth to three. Five is right out. Once the number three, being the number of the counting, be reached, then lobbest thou the Holy Hand Grenade in the direction of thine foe, who, being naughty in my sight, shall snuff it."

"What kind of joke is this?!" Richard asked. "It's not even amusing! Is this yours?!" he glared at Gar.

"I can't even make up stuff like this, and what's a hand grenade? I eat cereal."

Richard pointed at the scroll. "Look at the bottom of the scroll, it says, "Property of the Monty Python Jesters of Gotham City!" Is this that Jack White fellow, or was his name Jack Napier?"

"He's always been crazy, why does Gar invite him here?" Richard asked.

"Because I find him funny," Gar smirked.

"Will the minstrel play us something?" Raven asked.

"What would you like to hear My Lady?"

"Anything you can think of."

"If you play the one about Brave Sir Robin, I'm going to castrate you!" Richard glared at the minstrel.

"The thought never occurred to me," the minstrel said.

_Bravely bold Sir Robin  
Rode forth from Camelot  
He was not afraid to die  
Oh Brave Sir Robin  
He was not at all afraid to be killed in nasty ways  
Brave, Brave, Brave, Brave Sir Robin_

Gar was singing, while trying not to laugh. Richard did the only sensible thing at the moment. He punched Gar in the face.

"A very poor jest," he laughed. "Everyone relax."

The minstrel began to play a song and the nobles began to dance.

Raven leaned against him and smiled. They continued to dance until the music was over.

He headed over to the chapel and knelt down near the altar.

"What do You want me to do?" he asked to the air. "How are we all going to get out of here?"

"I don't care what happens to me, I just want Raven to live."

Raven listened to him from the entrance. She felt a tear slipped down her cheek, she was touched. She turned and left and went to bed.

Raven got up late in the night, staring down at sleeping Garfield.

"I have to leave you. I'm going to him. I don't care if Malchior kills me or not. I want you to live, I can exist with Malchior, but my heart will always live with you."

She kissed his forehead. Raven turned and left. Each step she took echoed in the room, like the sound of a death knell, but she held onto the hope that maybe somehow, he'd come and rescue her from this destiny. Richard said he didn't believe in destines, and she wanted to believe in them, and especially in Garfield, but for now, she would reside herself to her fate.

* * *

**_Author's Note: _**_Even in the Middle Ages, the Joker is still trolling Robin._


End file.
